Testing hooks for testing an integrated data processing system

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to various features of an integrated data processing system that includes a general purpose (GP) CPU core for processing data in accordance with a GP instruction set and a digital signal processor (DSP) module for processing data in accordance with command-list code. The DSP module is operable to execute the command-list code independent of and in parallel with execution of the GP instruction set by the CPU core. The system also includes test hook functions for facilitating production testing of the system.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/301,325 filed on Sep. 6, 1994, abd, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/073,955, filed Jun. 8, 1993, abd, which is a divisional of Ser. No. 07/806,082, filed Dec. 6, 1991, abd.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to integrated data processing systems and, in particular, to a processor system that integrates the functions of both a general purpose CPU core and a parallel, independently operating digital signal processor (DSP) module includes testing hook functions for facilitating production testing of the system.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art

Commonly assigned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 467,148, filed Jan. 18, 1990, by Intrater et al. for INTEGRATED DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR/GENERAL PURPOSE CPU WITH SHARED INTERNAL MEMORY, discloses a data processing system that utilizes integrated general purpose processor (i.e., the National Semiconductor Corp. 32FX16 embedded processor) and digital signal processor (DSP) functions that are connected for common access to an internal shared memory array. The shared memory array stores the operands for a set of basic DSP operations that can be executed by the DSP function. The sequence of DSP operations to be executed by the DSP function is selectively configurable by the general purpose processor function; that is, the general purpose processor can define a variety of DSP algorithms that can be executed by the DSP function for processing different digital input signal formats.

In addition to storing the operands required by the DSP function for execution of a DSP algorithm, the internal shared memory array also stores selected instructions and data required by the general purpose processor function for execution of general purpose tasks. The operands, instructions and data may be selectively loaded to the internal shared memory array from system memory. After execution of a DSP algorithm, the corresponding information set may be down-loaded from the internal memory array to system memory and a new information set retrieved for execution of a subsequent DSP algorithm or a new general purpose processor task.

Thus, the general purpose processor selects a DSP algorithm for conditioning and recovering digital data from the incoming signal. That is, the general purpose processor selects from the set of basic DSP operations to define a specific sequence of DSP operations appropriate for processing the incoming signal. The general purpose processor then retrieves operands required for execution of the selected DSP algorithm and/or instructions and data critical to the general purpose processor for controlling the DSP function or for performing general purpose tasks and loads them into the internal shared memory array. Next, the general purpose processor invokes the first DSP operation in the selected sequence and the DSP function performs the DSP operation utilizing operands retrieved by the DSP function from both the shared memory array and system memory. Upon completion of the DSP operation by the DSP function, the general purpose processor function either reads the result of the DSP operation, invokes the next DSP operation in the selected sequence or performs a general purpose task.

While the input signal to the data processing system may be received directly from a digital source, the system described in the above-identified application includes an analog front end that converts a modulated input signal received on an analog channel to a corresponding digital signal for processing by the data processing system.

Thus, the above-described data processing system provides unique system partitioning by integrating a small DSP module and a general purpose processor. This unique partitioning provides a single processor solution for both DSP and general purpose computations that can utilize the same programming model and the same system development tools for both functions. The DSP module provides the capability necessary to handle a variety of DSP requirements. The internal shared memory allows the DSP algorithms to be tuned or changed or new algorithms to be added to meet changing, expanding system requirements. General purpose, computation intensive tasks can also be executed directly from the internal shared memory.

While the above-described system provides a unique and innovative architecture for many DSP applications, it lacks the DSP computing capability that could be provided by a solution that integrates the general purpose function and a parallel, independently-operable DSP function on the same integrated circuit chip.

(U.S. patent application Ser. No. 467,148, including its Appendix A, are hereby incorporated by reference to provide additional background information regarding the invention disclosed herein.)

SUMMARY OFT HE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an integrated data processing system that includes a general purpose (GP) CPU core for processing data in accordance with a GP instruction set and a digital signal processor (DSP) module for processing data in accordance with command-list code. The DSP module is operable to execute the command-list code independent of and in parallel with execution of the GP instruction set by the CPU core. The system includes testing hook functions for facilitating production testing.

A better understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth an illustrative embodiment in which the principles of the invention are utilized.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an integrated data processing system in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an integrated data processing system as in FIG. 1 operable in an internal ROM mode.

FIG. 2A' is a schematic representation of a loader read operation.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an integrated data processing system as in FIG. 1 operable in an external ROM mode. FIG. 2C is a block diagram illustrating an integrated data processing system as in FIG. 1 operable in a development mode.

FIG. 3 is a representation of one possible set of pin assignments of an integrated data processing system in accordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 4-19 are timing diagrams illustrating the operation of an integrated data processing system in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram illustrating a high frequency clock oscillator utilizable in an integrated data processing system in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram illustrating a low frequency clock oscillator utilizable in an integrated data processing system in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram illustrating the interface between a PWM generator and external feedback circuitry.

FIG. 23 is a constellation points diagram for a V.29 modem operating at 9600 bps.

FIG. 24A is a constellation points diagram for a V.17 modem operating at 14400 bps.

FIG. 24B is a constellation points diagram illustrating subset Na 000 of a V.17-14400 bps modem constellation.

FIG. 24C is a constellation points diagram illustrating subset Na 001 of a V.17-14400 bps modem constellation.

FIG. 24D is a constellation points diagram illustrating subset Na 010 of a V.17-14400 bps modem constellation.

FIG. 24E is a constellation points diagram illustrating subset Na 011 of a V.17-14400 bps modem constellation.

FIG. 24F is a constellation points diagram illustrating subset Na 100 of a V.17-14400 bps modem constellation.

FIG. 24G is a constellation points diagram illustrating subset Na 101 of a V.17-14400 bps modem constellation.

FIG. 24H is a constellation points diagram illustrating subset Na 110 of a V.17-14400 bps modem constellation.

FIG. 24I is a constellation points diagram illustrating subset Na 111 of a V.17-14400 bps modem constellation.

FIG. 25 is a constellation points diagram illustrating a general subset of a V.17-14400 bps modem constellation.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram illustrating microcode execution in the DSPM 12 of a system in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram illustrating a loader utilizable in the DSPM 12.

FIG. 28 is a state machine diagram for a loader utilizable in the DSPM 12.

FIG. 29 is a timing diagram illustrating instruction flow in the DSPM 12.

FIG. 30 is a state machine diagram for CPU read/write operations.

FIG. 31 is a block diagram illustrating a microcode controller utilizable in conjunction with the present invention.

FIG. 32 is a timing diagram illustrating microcode flow.

FIG. 33 is a microcode reset timing diagram.

FIG. 34 is a block diagram illustrating a lattice filter.

FIG. 35 is a block diagram illustrating an inverse lattice filter block diagram.

FIG. 36 is a lattice filter signal flowgraph.

FIG. 37 is a inverse lattice filter signal flowgraph.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

I. General Description

FIG. 1 shows an integrated data processing system 10 that is tuned for digital (tapeless) answering machine applications. The data processing system 10 integrates the functions of both a digital signal processor module (DSPM) 12 and a general purpose CPU core 14. As will be described in greater detail below, the system 10 supports functions such as DRAM control, interrupt control, pulse width modulation, CODEC interface, Watch Dog timing and clock generation. The system 10 can execute instructions from either its on-chip ROM 16 or from external ROM.

II. Functions

The data processing system 10 is tuned to perform the three main functions of a digital answering machine: system control, voice compression/decompression and dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) detection.

The system control function includes a user interface via a keyboard and display handling. The system control function also controls the phone line and monitors the activity on the line. The system control function also keeps track of the time and detects power failures.

The voice compression/decompression function performs transformations between voice samples and compressed digital data. The on-chip DSPM 12 allows the running of different voice handling algorithms, such as GSM, Sub-Band Coding and LPC.

The DTMF function monitors the incoming data to detect any DTMF signaling. DTMF signals are used as commands for the system control function to change the current state of the answering machine.

The system 10 is operable in three different system configurations:

Internal ROM Mode

The system 10 in its Internal ROM mode provides the lowest chip count for a full digital answering machine solution. In this mode, the system 10 provides up to 32 Kbytes of on-chip program ROM and three on-chip general purpose I/O ports. FIG. 2A shows a digital answering machine based on the system 10 in its Internal ROM mode.

The system 10 provides testing hook functions to facilitate production testing in the Internal ROM mode. As stated above, in this mode, the entire system operation is on-chip, with most reads and writes being from internal memories.

The testing hook functions are:

a) ability to load program instructions from a tester into on-chip RAM and execute from the on-chip RAM.

This routine is intended to allow testability of system functions while in the Internal ROM mode, since in this mode the system 10 regularly executes the internal ROM application software.

The routine is part of the software in the ROM. In order to allow flexible testing, this routine loads the test-code from the external DRAM into internal RAM and jumps into it. It is the test-code's responsibility to loop/exit/halt.

The routine is invoked by the system application software if, after Reset, it senses a strap-pin (PBO) low.

As shown in FIG 2A, the loader reads the first WORD @ DRAM which specifies the SIZE of the test, i.e. how many bytes to load. Then it reads a WORD which specifies the OFFSET from SRAM start. Then it loops, loading this amount of bytes from the external DRAM into internal RAM, and then executes a "jump" to the internal RAM+OFFSET. If the OFFSET+SIZE is more than 1008 bytes, than the remaining bytes are loaded into the DSPM RAM. The test-code is responsible in execution-time to jump accordingly.

b) reflect on-chip databus activity on pins for testing.

c) synchronize on-chip clock to externally generated clock.

External ROM Mode

The system 10 in its External ROM mode allows program flexibility in digital answering machine applications. In this mode, an external ROM can be attached to the system 10 to provide a fast way of changing the answering machine's program. One on-chip general purpose I/O port is provided and two other I/O ports can be added with minimal logic. FIG. 2B shows a digital answering machine based on the system 10 in its External ROM mode.

Development Mode

Evaluation boards and testing are based on the system 10 in its Development mode. In this mode, external ROM, RAM and I/O devices can be connected to the system 10. Some pins are used to reflect the internal status of the system 10. No on-chip I/O ports are provided in this mode. FIG. 2C shows an evaluation bard based on the system 10 in its Development mode.

III. External Interface

As shown in FIGS. 2A-2C, the system 10 interfaces in the digital answering machine system with a CODEC, DRAM and various I/O signals. In the External ROM mode, it also interfaces with external ROMs, a latch and a buffer. In the Development mode, it also interfaces with SRAMs and a DUART and provides some status signals for device testing.

FIG. 3 shows a pin arrangement for the system 10, the associated pin description being as follows:

Supplies

Vcc Power. +5 Volt positive supply (5 pins)

Vss Ground. Ground reference for both on-chip logic and output drivers (6 pins)

Input Signals

RST Reset Input.

INT3 External interrupt (Falling Edge)

OSCN1 Crystal-I, External Clock Input (40.96 MHz)

OSCIN2 Crystal-2, External Clock Input (455 KHz)

Output Signals

A1-A11 Address Bus bits I through 11

RAS Row Address Strobe, for DRAM Control and Refresh

CAS Column Address Strobe, for DRAM Control and Refresh

DWE DRAM Write/Read control

CRD CODEC Read Control

CWR CODEC Write Control

CFS CODEC Frame Synchronization. 8 KHz Clock for the CODEC

CCLK CODEC Master Clock-1.28 MHz

PWM Output from the PWM Generator

OSCOUT1 Crystal-1 Clock Output (40.96 MHZ)

OSCOUT2 Crystal-2 Clock Output (455 KHz)

PC0/A12 Output Port C bit 0/External ROM address line A12

PC1/A13 Output Port C bit1/External ROM address line A13

PC2/A14 Output Port C bit 2/External ROM address line A14

PC3/A15 Output Port C bit 3/External ROM address line A15

PC4/A16 Output Port C bit 4/External ROM address line A16

PC5/MRD Output Port C bit 5/External ROM Output Enable Signal

PC6/IOWR/MODE0 Output Port C bit 6/External 10 Write Control Mode Control bit 0

PC7/IORD/MODEl Output Port C bit 7/External 10 Read Control Mode Control bit 1

The values of MODE0 and MODEl are sampled upon reset to determine the mode of operation. These pins must be either pulled up or pulled down with 10-Kohm resistors to Vcc or Vss, respectively. In the Internal ROM mode, both the MODE0 and MODEl pins should be pulled up via a resistor to Vcc. In the External ROM mode, the MODE0 pin should be pulled up via a resistor to Vcc and the MODEl pin should be pulled down via a resistor to Vss. In the Development mode, the MODE0 pin should be pulled down via a resistor to Vss and the MODEl pin should be pulled up via a resistor to Vcc.

Input/Output Signals

D0-D1 Data Bus bits 0 through 1

D2/RA12 Data Bus bit 2/DRAM row address bus bit 12 in Internal ROM mode

D3-D7 Data Bus bits 3 through 7

PA0/MWR0 Port A bit 0/External RAM write enable signal to even byte

PA1/MWR1 Port A bit 1/External RAM write enable signal to odd byte

PA2/CTTL Port A bit 2/CPU Clock

PA3/NSF Port A bit 3/Non-sequential Fetch Status

PA4/Tl Port A bit 4/First Clock of a Bus Cycle (T1)

PA5/DDIN Port A bit 5/Data Direction

PA6/A17 Port A bit 6/Address line A17

PA7/A18 Port A bit 7/Address line A18

PB0/D8 Port B bit 0/Extended Data Bus bit 8

PB1/D9 Port B bit 1/Extended Data Bus bit 9

PB2/D10 Port B bit 2/Extended Data Bus bit 10

PB3/D11 Port B bit 3/Extended Data Bus bit 11

PB4/D12 Port B bit 4/Extended Data Bus bit 12

PB5/D13 Port B bit 5/Extended Data Bus bit 13

PB6/D14 Port B bit 6/Extended Data Bus bit 14

PB7/D15 Port B bit 7/Extended Data Bus bit 15

IV. System Internal Architecture

Referring back to FIG. 1, the illustrated system 10 includes ten modules: DSPM 12, CPU core 14, ROM 16, Interrupt Control Unit (ICU) 18, Bus Interface Unit (BIU) and Dram controller 20, Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Generator 22, Clock Generator 24, System RAM 26, DSPM RAM 28, and a Watch Dog (WD) timer 30.

The Core CPU 14 is a National Semiconductor 32FX16 embedded processor with direct exception support. All the DSP arithmetic is done within the DSPM 12. Programs and data are stored in the ROM 16 and RAM modules 26, 28. The ICU 18 handles three interrupts, as described below. The BIU and DRAMC module 20 controls all the accesses to on- and off-chip peripherals. The PWM generator 22 is used in an external successive approximation A/D circuit. The clock generator 24 provides clocks for the different on-chip modules and selects between two crystal oscillators. The Watch Dog timer 30 is used for generating a non-maskable interrupt in the event that the system 10 is running out of control. In the low power mode, the Watch Dog interrupt is used to keep track of the time.

The address map of the system memory is provided in Table I below for reference in conjunction with the discussion that follows:

                  TABLE 1                                                          ______________________________________                                         First     Last                                                                 Address   Address     Purpose                                                  ______________________________________                                         0x00000000                                                                               0x000063FF  Internal ROM mode internal                                                     ROM (25(Kbytes)                                          0x000000 0                                                                               0x0001FFFF  External ROM mode external                                                     memory                                                   0x00000000                                                                               0x0007FFFF  Development mode external                                                      memory                                                   0x02000000                                                                               0x027FFFFF  External DRAM                                            0xFFFDFC10                                                                               0xFFFDFFFF  System on-chip RAM                                                             (1008 bytes)                                             0xFFFE0000                                                                               0xFFFE045F  DSPM Internal RAM                                                              (1120 bytes)                                             0xFFFF8000                                                                               0xFFFF8027  DSPM Dedicated Registers                                 0xFFFF9000                                                                               0xFFFF9013  DSPM Control/Status                                                            Registers                                                0xFFFFA000                                                                               0xFFFFA047  On-Chip Modules Registers                                0xFFFFFE00                                                                               0xFFFFFFFF  ICU and NMI Control                                      ______________________________________                                    

All other address ranges are reserved. The address map of the DSPM dedicated registers and DSPM control/status registers will be provided below in conjunction with a detailed description of the DSPM module 12. Address maps of the registers of all other modules are provided in the following Table II

    ______________________________________                                         Mode    Register  Size    Address   Access Type                                ______________________________________                                         ICU     IVCT      byte    0xFFFFFE00                                                                               Read Only                                          IMASK     byte    0xFFFFFE04                                                                               Read/Write                                         IPEND     byte    0xFFFFFE08                                                                               Read Only                                          IECLR     byte    0xFFFFFE0C                                                                               Write Only                                 I/O     DIRA      byte    0xFFFFA101                                                                               Write Only                                         DIRB      byte    0xFFFFA201                                                                               Write Only                                         PORTA     byte    0xFFFFA401                                                                               Read/Write                                         PORTB     byte    0xFFFFA501                                                                               Read/Write                                         PORTC     byte    0xFFFFA601                                                                               Write Only                                 Clock   CLKCTL    byte    0xFFFFA010                                                                               Read/Write                                 Generator                                                                      Watch Dog                                                                              WDCTL     byte    0xFFFFA000                                                                               Write Only                                 PWM     PWMCTL    byte    0xFFFFA020                                                                               Read/Write                                 CODEC   CDATA     byte    0xFFFFA040                                                                               Read/Write                                         CSTAT     byte    0xFFFFA044                                                                               Read/Write                                 ______________________________________                                    

V. CPU Core

The CPU core 14 is fully compatible with the core of the National Semiconductor Corporation NS32FX16 processor with three exceptions. The CPU core 14 has reduced interrupt latency via direct exception mode, no support for some instructions and addressing modes and no support for clock scaling.

A. Direct Exception Mode

The CPU core 14 supports only the direct exception mode. The SETCFG instruction must be used to set the CFG.DE bit to "1". While in this mode, the CPU core 14 does not save the MOD register on the stack, nor does it refer to the module table on exception processing.

B. Instruction-Set and Addressing Modes

The CPU core 14 does not support the following 32FX16 instructions: CXP, RXP, CXPD, EXTBLT, MOVif, LFSR, MOVLF, MOVFL, ROUND, TRUNC, SFSR, FLOOR< ADDf, MOVf, CMPf, SUBf, NEGf, DIVf, MULf, ABSf, POLYf, DOTf, SCALBf, LOGBf, CBITIi, and SBITIi. The external addressing mode and the MOD register are also not supported. Whenever the CFG register is written, a value of `0` must be specified in CFG.F bit.

C. Clock Scaling

The CPU core 14 does not support clock scaling. On accesses to the CFG, `0` must be written into bits C and M.

VI. Interrupt Controller Unit

A. General Description

The Interrupt Control Unit (ICU) 18 monitors the internal and external interrupt sources and generates a vectored interrupt to the CPU core 14 when required. Priority is resolved on a fixed scheme. Each interrupt source can be masked by a mask register. Pending interrupts can be polled using the interrupt pending register.

As shown in Table III below, The ICU 18 handles four sources of interrupts: three are internal and one is external. The external interrupt is triggered by a falling edge on the INT3 input pin. The INT3 input includes a Schmitt trigger input buffer to produce jitter-free interrupt requests from slowly changing input signals. An on-chip circuit synchronizes the INT3 input signal to the system clock. For proper interrupt detection, INT3 must be pulled low for at least 3 clock cycles.

Another interrupt, INT2, is level sensitive. It is triggered by the DSPM 12 upon completion of a command-list execution and when beth DSPINT.HALT and DSPMASK. HALT are "1". Interrupt INT2 is used to synchronize between command-list execution and a CPU core program. This can reduce the total CPU utilization of applications which require asynchronous operation of the DSPM 12.

The other two interrupts, INT4 and INT1, are edge sensitive. They are triggered by the falling edge of 8 KHz and 500 Hz clocks respectively. These clocks are generated by the clock generator 24.

All of the interrupts are latched by the interrupt pending register (IPEND). An edge sensitive pending interrupt is cleared by writing to the edge interrupt clear register (IECLR). The INT4 pending bit is also reset when the CODEC is accessed.

INT4 is used in the application for timing the accesses to the CODEC. The same clock that triggers the interrupt is also connected to the CFS input of the CODEC device.

There is no hardware limitation on nesting of interruptst Interrupt nesting is controlled by writing into the mask register (IMASK). When an interrupt is acknowledged by the CPU core 14,. the PSR.1 bit is cleared to "0", thus disabling interrupts. While an interrupt is in service, other interrupts may be allowed to occur by setting the PSR.I bit to "1". The IMASK register can be used to control which of the other interrupts is allowed. Clearing bits in the IMASK register should be done while the PSR.I bit is "0". Setting bits in the IMASK register may be done regardless of the PSR.I bit state.

Clearing an interrupt request before it is serviced may cause a false interrupt, where the system 10 may detect an interrupt not reflected by the IVCT. Interrupt requests should be cleared only when interrupts are disabled.

During the low power mode (CLKCTL.LPM="1"), the ICU 18 is disabled. The PSR.I bit must be cleared to "0" before entering the low power mode, and reads or writes into the registers of the ICU 18 should not be attempted while in this mode.

B. ICU Registers

IVCT

Interrupt vector register. Byte wide. Read only. IVCT holds the encoded number of the highest priority unmasked pending interrupt request. Interrupt vector numbers are always positive, in the range 0x11 to 0x14. ##STR1## IMASK

Mask register. Byte wide. A value of "0" in bit position i disables the corresponding interrupt source. IMASK bits 0 and 5 through 7 are reserved. The non-reserved bits of IMASK register are set to "0" upon reset and when CLKCTL.LPM is "1". ##STR2## IPEND

Interrupt pending register. Byte wide. Read only. Reading a value of "1" in bit position i indicates that the relevant interrupt source is active. IPEND bits 0 and 5 through 7 are reserved. The non-reserved bits of IPEND are cleared to "0" upon reset and when CLKCTL.LPM is "1". ##STR3## IECLR

Edge interrupt clear register. Write only. A pending edge triggered interrupt is cleared by writing "1" to the relevant bit position in the IECLR. Writing "0" has no effect. Note that INT9 does not have a corresponding clear bit in IECLR. INT2 is a level sensitive interrupt and it is cleared by writing directly to the DSPINT register. IECLR bits 0 and 5 through 7 are reserved. ##STR4## 3. INTERRUPT SOURCES

                  TABLE III                                                        ______________________________________                                         Name  Type     Source       Vector Priority                                    ______________________________________                                         INT1  2-msec   Clock Generator                                                                             0x11   Lowest Priority                             INT2  DSPM     DSPM         0x12                                               INT3  60 Hz    External     0x13                                               INT4  CODEC    Clock Generator                                                                             0x14   Highest Priority                            ______________________________________                                    

VII. BIU and DRAM Controller

A. General Description

The BIU and DRAM controller 20 controls all the internal and external accesses. It provides control signals for the internal cycles to the other on-chip modules. It also provides control signals to the different external devices. There are four types of external devices: DRAM, ROM/RAM, CODEC and I/O ports. Different types of accesses are done to each of the different devices.

The BIU provides four types of accesses to the external DRAM: read, write, and refresh cycles during normal operation, and special refresh cycles during low power mode (CLKCTL.LPM="1"). No reads and writes to the DRAM are allowed during low power mode.

The BIU provides two types of accesses to the ROM/RAM devices: read and write cycles. These cycles can also be done while in low power mode.

The BIU provides two types of accesses to the CODEC: read and write cycles. These cycles are not allowed while in low power mode.

The BIU provides two types of accesses to I/O devices in both the External ROM and Development modes: read and write cycles. These cycles also can be done while in low power mode.

All control signals of external devices are inactive while reset.

B. DRAM Access

The DRAM Controller (DRAMC) 20 supports transactions between the system 10 and external DRAM and performs refresh cycles. The DRAMC 20 supports one or two TMS44400 (1Mx4) DRAM devices or one or two TMS416400 (4Mx4) DRAM devices with the same AC/DC specifications. There is no special support for any other devices. The TMS44400 and TMS416400 devices supported are with special AC/DC characteristics. These devices require at least 500-nsec cycle time and at least 350-nsec access RAS time and a short refresh period.

The external data bus used for all DRAM accesses is 8-bits wide. The user can connect either one or two DRAM devices. When only one device is connected, its data pins are connected to pins D0-3. When another DRAM is added, it is connected to pins D4-7. There is no hardware support for nibble or byte gathering. The user can handle the nibble gathering with software. CPU accesses are only to an aligned word in the DRAM (no byte or double word accesses are allowed).

The DRAMC waveforms are designed for a 24.32-MHz system. The refresh rate is designed for a 20.48-MHz operation. This allows running with the same DRAMC at any frequency between 20.48 MHz and 24.32 MHz. Note, however, that the clock generator module 24 is designed only for 20.48 MHz and Internal ROM tests are done only for this frequency.

During read cycles, the DRAMC 20 provides the RAS and CAS signals. The DRAMC 20 does not use fast page mode accesses. The user must connect the OE pin of the DRAM to GND. On write cycles, the DRAMC 20 provides the RAS, CAS and WE signals to perform early writes according to the DRAM specifications.

When the system 10 enters the low power mode, the DRAMC 20 continues to refresh the DRAM array. The low frequency clock generates RAS and CAS signals. During this mode, no reads and writes to the DRAM are allowed. Note also that the user must make sure that the instruction that sets the CLKCTL.LPM bit does not directly follow an access to the DRAM.

The DRAM address range is 0x02000000 to 0x027FFFFF and its size is 8 Mbytes. To fully utilize this address rage, four 4Mx4-DRAM devices are needed. In a typical system, where only a single 1Mx4-DRAM device is used, only 2-Mbytes are accessible and only one nibble out of four can actually store data.

During reads and writes to the DRAM in the Internal ROM mode, the DRAMC 20 provides the row and column address on pins A1-A11 and RA12. The row address is bits A11-A22 of the data item's address. It is provided on pins A1-A11 and A12, respectively. The column address is bits A1-A10 of the data item's address. It is provided on pins A1-A10, respectively.

During reads and writes to the DRAM in the External ROM or Development modes, the DRAMC 20 provides the row and column address on pins A1-A12. The row address is bits A11-A22 of the data item's address. It is provided on pins A1-A12, respectively. The column address is bits A1-A10 of the data item's address. It is provided on pins A1-A10, respectively.

DRAM accesses can be divided into two parts: During the first part (11 cycles), the external data bus is used by DRAMC 20. During the following two cycles, the external data bus can be used by any bus user except for DRAM (to ensure enough DRAM precharge time).

In normal operation (CLKCTL.LPM="0"), DRAM refresh is done at a rate of 160000 cycles/second. The refresh clock is generated by the clock generator 24. Any bus transaction, except for DRAM accesses, can be performed in parallel with a refresh cycle.

In the low power mode (CLKCTL.LPM="1"), DRAM refresh is done at a 1/4 of the low speed crystal oscillator frequency (If Crystal-2 is 455 KHz, the refresh rate is 113750 cycles/second). The RAS and CAS signals are activated for half a DRAM refresh cycle.

In both modes, the DRAM provides control signals to execute automatic before refresh cycles according to the specification of the TMS44400 and TMS416400 DRAMS.

C. CODEC Interface

CODEC accesses are performed as regular memory accesses to the addresses of CSTAT and CDATA registers. The CPU core 14 provides the control signals to the TP5512 CODEC to perform read and write sequences. The signals used for these accesses are CWR, CRD, A2 and D0-7.

The system 10 also provides two clocks to the CODEC: CCLK, the basic 1.28 MHz CODEC clock, and CFS, an 8 KHz signal used for frame synchronization. Whenever CFS is asserted (low), the IPEND.P3 signal is asserted (high) and an interrupt request is issued if IMASK.M3 is "0". In order to meet the CODEC timing, its registers should be accessed only following an interrupt request. Note, however, that the user can monitor the IPEND.P3 signal and decide whether the access to the CODEC is allowed.

During the low power mode, CCLK is always inactive (low) and CFS is always active (low). Upon reset CCLK is always active (high) and CFS is always inactive (high).

While in the Internal ROM mode, during the low power mode, A2 is forced to a low level and D0-7 are in input mode (high impedance). This allows the user to switch off the power of the CODEC when the system 10 enters a low power mode in Internal ROM mode (accesses to the CODEC are not allowed while in the low power mode).

D. Accesses To Off-Chip Memory Devices

While in the External ROM mode, the CPU core 14 performs read accesses from external memory for all the addresses between 0x00000000 and 0x0001FFFF. While in the Development mode, the CPU core 14 performs read or write accesses to external memory for all the addresses between 0x00000000 and 0x0007FFFF.

On the first cycle (T1) of a read access, the CPU core 14 asserts A1-16 in the External ROM mode, or A1-A18 in the Development mode. The address remains active for four clock cycles (T1 through T4). In the following cycle (T2), the CPU core 14 activates the MRD signal. MRD remains active until the fourth cycle (T4). Data is sampled at the end of the third cycle (T3).

On the first cycle (T1) of a write access, the CPU core 14 in the Development mode asserts A1-A18. The address remains active for four clock cycles (T1 through T4). In the following cycle (T2), D0-15 are activated and MWR0 and MWR1 are asserted (depending on the byte needed to be written into). D0-15 remains active until the next T1. MWR0 and MWR1 remain active until the fourth cycle (T4).

E. I/O Ports

Three 8-bit I/O ports are provided in the Internal ROM mode: PA, PB and PC. Each of the bits in Ports A and B can be programmed individually as either an input or as an output. Programming the direction of the bits in ports PA and PB is done by writing to registers DIRA and DIRB, respectively. Writing "1" to one of the bits in a DIR register configures the corresponding bit in the port as an output port. Writing "0" to one of the bits in a DIR register configures the corresponding bit in the port as an input port. Port PC serves as an output only, and does not have a direction register. On reset, DIA and DIRB are cleared to "0" and ports PA and PB are initiated as input ports.

The bits in ports PA and PB that are programmed as outputs can also be read by the CPU core 14 by accessing the port. The values of the output bits in ports PA, PB and PC can be set by writing to the port.

In the External ROM and Development modes, the pins of ports PB and PC are used for different functions. In order to use these ports, external logic can be added. An external latch can be connected to the D8-15 and IOWR signals to provide the functionality of PC. An external buffer can be connected to the D8-15 and IORD signals to provide part of the functionality of PB. Note that, in this mode, PB can serve as an input only.

In the Development mode, PA pins are also used. The implementation of the evaluation board provides all the I/O ports with their full functionality, but at a different address range.

Accesses to the external latch and external buffer are similar to the accesses to off-chip memory devices, except for the pins that control the actual reads and writes. On reads, IORD is asserted and on writes, IOWR is asserted. The timings of these signals are exactly the same as the timings of MRD and MWR1.

VIII. Pulse Width Modulator

The Pulse Width Modulator 22 provides one output signal with a fixed frequency and a variable duty cycle. The frequency of the PWM output is 80 KHz. The duty cycle can be programmed by writing a value from 0 to 0xFF to the PWMCTL register. The PWM output is active (high) for the number of 20.48-MHz cycles specified in PWMCTL register. It is not active (low) for the rest of the 20.48-MHz cycles in the 80-KHz PWM cycle. During low power mode, and upon reset, PWMCTL register is cleared to "0" and the PWM output signal is not active (low).

The Pulse Width Modulator 22 is utilized for parallel disconnect. A mixed hardware/software algorithm is provided for analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion.

The DA has an op-amp for detecting the voltage across tip and ring. The output voltage of this op-amp is proportional to the voltage across tip and ring. To measure this voltage, an A/D conversion using a PWM D/A converter is utilized.

As stated above, the 8-bit PWM generator 22 will generate a square-wave. The cycle time of this square-wave is 20.48 Mhz/8=2.56 Mhz. The duty cycle is programmable with 256 values. As shown in FIG. 22, an external RC network is connected to the PWM generator 22. The voltage at the output of the RC network is proportional to the duty cycle. This voltage is compared with the output voltage of the current sense op-amp.

During the first seconds of the connection, a full A/D conversion is done. This can be achieved by doing a successive approximation on the PWM bits PO-7 (where bit 7 is the msb). The algorithm for this conversion is:

    for (K=7, K>=0, K--) do

set PWM(K)=1

wait for a fixed time (until the RC network is stable)

if I/O bit is high PWM(K)=0

The steps of the algorithm can be done in 10 ms time intervals. The full algorithm will give 8 bit accuracy in 8 steps. Note that the output of this A/D is relative to VOH of the PWM generator which is relative to VCC, and dependent on temperatures. Note also that due to the successive approximation algorithm, there may be errors in the conversion if the input changes within the conversion.

During the phone conversation, there is no need for a full A/D conversion each 100 ms. The user only needs to know whether the line current is much higher or much lower then it value at the beginning of the conversation. Only two measurements are needed: the upper and the lower limits. Thus, if the value at the beginning of the conversation is A, and the threshold is T, only two steps are needed:

a) set PWM=A+T

b) if I/O bit is high then another phone in the house is off-hook.

c) set PWM=AT

d) if I/O bit is low then another phone in the house is off-hook.

IX. Clock Generator

The clock generator 24 provides all the clocks needed for the various modules of the system 10. Two crystal clock oscillators, 24a and 24b, provide the basic frequencies needed. The high-speed crystal oscillator 24a is designed to operate with an 40.96 MHz crystal. The low-speed oscillator 24b is designed to operate with a ceramic resonator at a frequency of 455 KHz. The system 10 can be operated in either normal operation or low power modes. In low power mode, most of the on-chip modules are running from a very low frequency clock or are totally disabled. While in low power mode, the high speed crystal oscillator 24a can be turned off to further reduce the power.

The clock generator 24 provides two clocks to the CODEC: a 1.28-MHz clock, and an 8-KHz clock. The 8-KHz clock also generates INT4.

The clock generator 24 provides a 2-msec (0.5 KHz) time base for the system software. This time base signal generates INT1.

The clock generator 24 provides a refresh request signal at a rate of 160 KHz during normal operation mode, and a 1/4 of Crystal-2 frequency at low power mode.

The clock generator control register (CLKCTL) has two control bits: LPM and DHFO. The DHFO controls the high-frequency oscillator. When "0", the high-frequency oscillator 24a is operating. When CLKCTL.DHFO is "1", the high-frequency oscillator 24a is disabled. The LPM bit changes the mode of operation. When CLKCTL.LPM is "0", the system 10 is in normal operation mode, where all the modules operate from the high-frequency oscillator 24a. When CLKCTL.LPM is "1", the system is in low power mode, where some of the modules are not operating, and others operate from the low-frequency oscillator 24b. In the low power mode, DRAM refresh cycles are done at a rate of a 1/4 of Crystal-2 frequency, and the core operates from a clock whose frequency is a 1/8 of Crystal-2.

Accesses to the following modules are not allowed during low power mode:

ICU

CODEC

PWM generator

DRAM read and write cycles

While in the low power mode, the user's program executes only a WAIT instruction and a NMI interrupt handler.

When changing from the normal operation mode to the low power mode, CLKCNTL.LPM must be set to "1", and only then CLKCNTL.DHFO must be set to "1". When changing from the low power mode to the normal operation mode, CLKCNTL.DHFO must be cleared to "0", and only then clear CLKCNTL.LPM cleared.

The transition between normal operation mode to the low power mode occurs after the a new value is written into CLKCTL.LPM. The CPU core 14 may delay this transition if a DRAM refresh cycle is in process. The CLKCTL.LPM bit will change its value only when the transition is completed. Note, however, that it is usually not needed to wait until the transition is completed, since it is guaranteed that the system 10 will change its mode when the DRAM refresh cycle is over.

The structure of CLKCNTL is as follows: ##STR5## The non-reserved bits of CLKCNTL register are cleared to "0" upon reset. A. Hiah-Speed Clock Oscillator

The system 10 provides an internal oscillator that interacts with an external High-Speed clock source through two signals: OSCiN1 and OSCOUT1.

                  TABLE IV                                                         ______________________________________                                         High-Frequency Oscillator Circuit                                              Component                                                                              Value             Tolerance Units                                      ______________________________________                                         XTAL    Resonance    40.96            MHz                                              Third Overtone                                                                              (parallel)                                                        Type         AT-Cut                                                            Maximum Series                                                                 Resistance   50               Ω                                          Maximum Series                                                                 Capacitance  7        pF                                               R1                   150K     10%     Ω                                  R2                   51        5%     Ω                                  C1                   20       10%     pF                                       C2                   20       10%     pF                                       C3                   1000     20%     pF                                       L                    1.8      10%     μH                                    ______________________________________                                    

Either an external single-phase clock signal or a crystal can be used as the clock source. If a single phase clock source is used, only the connection on OSCIN1 required; OSCOUT1 should be left unconnected or loaded with no more then 5 pF of stray capacitance.

When operation with a crystal is desired, special care should be taken to minimize stray capacitances and inductance. The crystal, as well as the external components, should be placed in close proximity to OSCIN1 and OSCOUT1 pins to keep the printed circuit trace lengths to an absolute minimum. FIG. 20 show the external crystal interconnections. Table IV provides the crystal characteristics and the values of R, C, and L components, including stray capacitance.

B. Low-Frequency Clock Oscillator

The system 10 provides an internal oscillator that interacts with an external clock Low-Frequency source through two signals. OSCIN2 and OSCOUT2.

Either an external single-phase clock signal or a crystal can be used as the clock source. If a single-phase clock source is used, only the connection on OSCIN2 required; OSCOUT2 should be left unconnected or loaded with no more then 5 pF of stray capacitance.

When operation with a crystal is desired, special care should be taken to minimize stray capacitances and inductance. The crystal, as well as the external components, should be placed in close proximity to OSCIN2 and OSCOUT2 pins to keep the printed circuit trace lengths to an absolute minimum. FIG. 21 show the external crystal interconnections. Table V provides the crystal characteristics and the values of R, and C components, including stray capacitance.

                  TABLE V                                                          ______________________________________                                         Low-Frequency Oscillator Circuit                                               Component                                                                               Value            Tolerance Units                                      ______________________________________                                         RES      Ceramic Resonator 455K     Hz                                         R1       1M               10%       Ω                                    R2       4.7K.sup.        10%       Ω                                    C1       100              20%       pF                                         C2       100              20%       pF                                         ______________________________________                                    

X. Watch Dog Counter

The Watch Dog (WD) counter 30 is used to activate a non-maskable interrupt (NMI) whenever the system 10 is running out of control. The WD module 30 is a 10 Hz timer with a reset mechanism. During the normal operation mode, the user clears the WD 30 at a rate higher than 10 Hz by writing 0x0E into the WDCTL register. These write accesses ensure that the Watch Dog 30 will not issue an NMI for a full 0.1 second. Failing to clear the WD 30 before 0.15 of a second has passed, will cause an NMI. If the user does not clear the Watch Dog 30, an NMI occurs exactly ten times a second. This NMI can be used to track the time. Upon reset, the Watch Dog 30 is disabled until the first write access to the WDCTL register.

XI. Internal ROM

The internal ROM 16 is up to 32 Kbytes large. The ROM 16 is organized as a 16-bit wide memory array with a zero wait-state access time. The ROM's starting address is 0x00000000. When the system 10 is in either External ROM or Development modes, the lower 128 Kbytes are mapped for external accesses instead of accesses to the on-chip ROM 16.

XII. Internal RAM Arrays

The system provides two zero wait-state on-chip RAM arrays: an 1008 byte system RAM array 26 and an 1120 byte DSPM RAM array 28. The data bus between the CPU core 14 and both the RAM arrays is 16 bits wide. The data bus between the DSPM 12 and the DSPM RAM 28 is 32 bits wide to allow high throughput during DSP operations. While the DSPM 12 is active, the CPU core 14 is not allowed to access the DSPM RAM 28.

XIII. DSPM

The DSPM 12 is a complete processing unit, capable of autonomous operation parallel to the operation of the CPU core 14. The DSPM 12 executes command-list programs stored in the internal on-chip RAM 28 and manipulates data stored either in the internal RAM 28 or in an external off-chip memory. To maximize utilization of hardware resources, the DSPM 12 contains a pipelined DSP-oriented datapath and control logic that implements a set of DSP vector commands.

A. Programming Model

Internal RAM 28 is used by the DSPM 12 for fetching commands to be executed and for reading or writing data that is needed in the course of program execution. DSPM programs are encoded as command lists and are interpreted by the command-list execution unit.

Computations are performed by commands selected from the command-list code instruction set, which is described in greater detail below. These commands employ the DSP-oriented datapath in a pipelined manner, thus maximizing the utilization of on-chip hardware resources. A set of dedicated registers is used to specify operands and options for subsequent vector commands. These dedicated registers can be loaded and stored by appropriate commands in between initiations of vector commands. Additional commands are available for controlling the flow of execution of the command list, as needed for programming loops and branches.

The CPU core interface specifies the mapping of the DSPM internal RAM 28 as a contiguous block within the CPU core's address space, thus making it possible for normal CPU core instructions to access and manipulate data and commands in the DSPM internal RAM 28, as described below. In addition, the CPU core interface contains control and status registers that are needed to synchronize the execution of CPU core instructions concurrently with execution of the DSPM command lists, also as described below.

B. RAM Organization and Data Types

The DSPM internal RAM 28 is organized as word or double-word addressable, uniform, linear address space. Memory locations are numbered sequentially, starting at 0 for the first location and incremented by 1 for each successive location. The content of each memory location is a 16-bit word. Double-words must be aligned to an even address. Valid RAM addresses for access by the command-list execution unit are 0 through 0x22F. Accesses to memory locations out of the DSMP RAM boundary are not allowed.

The organization of the DSPM internal RAM 28 is as follows: ##STR6##

The RAM array 28 is not restricted to use by the DSPM 12; it can also be accessed by the CPU core 14 with any type of memory access (e.g., byte, word, or double-word accesses aligned to any byte address).

The internal RAM 28 stores command lists to be executed and data to be manipulated during program execution. As described below, command lists consist of 16-bit commands so that each individual command occupies one memory location. Each data item is represented as having either a 16-bit or a 32-bit value, as follows:

Integer values (16-bit)

Aligned-integer values (32-bit)

Real values (16-bit)

Aligned-real values (32-bit)

Extended-precision real values (32-bit)

Complex values (32-bit)

Integer Values

Integer values are represented as signed 16-bit binary numbers in 2's complement format. The range of integer values is from -2¹⁵ (-32768) through 2¹⁵ -1 (32767). Bit 0 is the Least Significant Bit (LSB), and bit 15 is the Most Significant Bit (MSB). ##STR7##

Integer values are typically used for addressing vector operands and for look-up-table index manipulations.

Aligned-Integer Values

Aligned-integer values are represented as pairs of integer values and must be aligned on a double-word boundary. The less significant half represents one integer vector element and must be contained in an even-numbered memory location. The more significant half represents the next vector element and must be contained in the next (odd-numbered) memory location. ##STR8##

Aligned-integer values are used for higher throughput in operations where two sequential integer vector elements can be used in a single iteration. Both elements of an aligned-integer value have the same range and accuracy as specified for integer values above.

Real Values

Real values are represented as 16-bit signed fixed-point fractional numbers, in 2's complement format. Bit 15 (MSB) is the sign bit. Bits 0 (LSB) through 14 represent the fractional part. The binary digit is assumed to lie between bits 14 and 15. ##STR9##

Real values are used to represent samples of analog signals, coefficients of filters, energy levels, and similar continuous quantities that can be represented using 16-bit accuracy. The range of real values is from values is from -1.0 (represented as 0x8000) through 1.0-2⁻¹⁵ (represented as 0x7FFF).

Aligned-Real values

Aligned-real values are represented as pairs of real values, and they must be aligned on a double-word boundary. The less significant half represents one real vector element, and must be contained in an even-numbered memory location. The more significant half represents the next vector element, and must be contained in the next (odd-numbered) memory location. ##STR10##

Aligned-real values are used for higher throughput in operations where two sequential real vector elements can be used in a single iteration. Both elements of an aligned-real value have the same range and accuracy as specified for real values above.

Extended-Precision Real Values

Extended-precision real values are represented as 32-bit signed fixed-point fractional numbers, in 2's complement format. Extended-precision real values must be aligned on a double-word boundary, so that the less significant half is contained in an even-numbered memory location, and the more significant half is contained in the next (odd-numbered) memory location. Bit 15 (MSB) of the more significant part is the sign bit. Bits from 0 (LSB) of the less significant part, through 14 of the more significant part, are used to represent the fractional part. The binary digit is assumed to lie between bits 14 and 15 of the more significant part. When extended-precision values are loaded or stored in the accumulator, bits 1 through 31 of the extended-precision argument are loaded or stored in bits 0 through 30 of the accumulator. Bit 0 of the extended-precision argument is not used during calculations. This bit is always set to "0" when stored back in the internal memory. ##STR11##

Extended-precision real values are used to represent various continuous quantities that require high accuracy. The range of extended-precision real values is from -1.0 (represented as 0x80000000) through 1.0-2⁻³⁰ (represented as 0x7FFFFFFE).

Complex Values

Complex values are represented as pairs of real values, and must be aligned on a double-word boundary. The less significant half represents the real part, and must be contained in an even-numbered memory location. The more significant half represents the imaginary part, and must be contained in the next (odd-numbered) memory location. ##STR12##

Complex values are used to represent samples of complex baseband signals, constellation points in the complex plane, coefficients of complex filters, and rotation angles as points on the unit circle, etc. Both the real and imaginary parts have the same range and accuracy as specified for real values above.

C. DSPM Dedicated Registers

The DSPM 12 contains nine dedicated registers that are used to transfer operands and options between command lists and vector instructions and to control the flow of execution of the command list. Some of the dedicated registers can be loaded from or stored in the DSPM internal RAM 28 by executing appropriate commands between initiations of vector instructions.

There are seven groups of dedicated registers:

Accumulator

Vector address registers

External address base register

Command-list pointer

Overflow register

Vector parameter register

Command-list repeat register

Accumulator ##STR13##

The structure of the accumulator is as follows: ##STR14##

The A register is a complex accumulator. It has two 34-bit fields: a real part, and an imaginary part. Bits 15 through 30 of the real, and the imaginary parts of the accumulator can be read or written by the core in one double-word access. The 16-bit real part is mapped to the operand's bits 0 through 15, and the 16-bit imaginary part is mapped to the operand's bits 16 through 31. The accumulator can also be read and written by the command-list execution unit using the SA, SEA, LA and LEA instructions.

When a value is stored in the accumulator by the CPU core 14, the value of PARAM.RND bit is copied into bit position 14 of both real and imaginary parts of the accumulator. This technique allows rounding of the accumulator's value in the following DSPM instructions as described in greater detail below. Bits 0 to 13 of real and imaginary accumulators are cleared to "0". The value of both the real and imaginary parts are sign extended (e.g. bit -30, the sign bit, is copied to bits 31 through 33).

Vector Pointer Registers ##STR15##

The format of the X, Y, and Z registers is as follows: ##STR16##

The X, Y, and Z dedicated registers are used for addressing up to three vector operands. They are 32-bit registers with three fields: address, increment, and wrap-around. The value in the address field specifies the address of a word in the on-chip memory. This field has 16 bits and can address up to 64 Kwords of internal memory. The address fields are initialized with the vector operands' start-addresses by commands in the command list. At the beginning of each vector operation, the contents of the address field are copied to incrementors. Increments can be used by vector instructions to step through the corresponding vector operands while executing the appropriate calculations. There is address wrap-around for those vector instructions that require some of their operands to be located in cyclic buffers. The allowed values for the increment field are 0 through 15. The actual increment will be 2^(increment) words. The allowed values for the wrap-around field are 0 through 15. The actual wrap-around will be 2^(warp-around) words. The wrap-around must be greater than or equal to the increment.

The X, Y, and Z registers can be read and written by the CPU core 14. These registers can be read and written by the command-list execution unit, as well as by the core 14, when using SX, SXL, SXH, SY, SZ, LX, LY, and LZ instructions.

External Address Base Register ##STR17##

The structure of the external address base register is as follows: ##STR18##

The EABR register is used together with a 16-bit address field to form a 32-bit external address. External addresses are specified as the sum of the value in EABR and two times the value of the 16-bit address field. The only value allowed to be written into bits 0 through 16 of EABR is "0". The EABR register can be read and written by the core 14. It can also be written by the command-list execution unit by using the LEABR instruction.

EABR can hold any value except for 0xFFFE0000. Accessing external memory with an 0xFFFE0000 in the EABR will cause unpredictable results.

Command List Pointer ##STR19##

The CLPTR is a 16-bit register that holds the address of the current command in the internal RAM 28. Writing into the CLPTR causes the DSPM command-list execution unit to begin executing commands, starting from the address in CLPTR. The CLPTR can be read and written by the core while the command-list execution is idle.

Whenever the DSPM command-list execution unit reads a command from the DSPM RAM 28, the value of the (CLPTR) is updated to contain the address of the next command to be executed. This implies, for example, that if the last command in a list is in address N, then the CLPTR will hold a value of N+1 following the end of command list execution.

Overflow Register ##STR20##

The structure of the overflow register is as follows: ##STR21##

The OVF register holds the current status of the DSPM arithmetic unit. It has two fields: OVF and SAT. The OVF bit is set to "1" whenever an overflow is detected in the DSPM 34-bit ALU (e.g., bits 32 and 33 of the addition or subtraction result are not equal). No overflow detection is provided for integers. The SAT bit is set to in1fl whenever a value read from the accumulator cannot be represented within the limits of its data type (e.g., 16 bits for real and integer, and 32 bits for extended real). In this case, the value read from the accumulator will either be the maximum allowed value or the minimal allowed value for this data type, depending on the sign of the accumulator value. Note that in some cases when the OVF is set, the SAT will not be set. The reason is that if an OVF occurred, the value in the accumulator can no longer be used for proper SAT detection. Upon reset, and whenever the ABORT register is written, the OVF register is cleared to "0".

The OVF is a read only register. It can be read by the core 14. It can also be read by the command-list execution unit using the SOVF instruction. Reading the OVF by either the core or the command-list execution unit clears it to "0".

Vector Parameter Registers ##STR22##

The format of the PARAM register is as follows: ##STR23##

The PARAM register is used to specify the number of iterations and special options for the various instructions. The options are: RND, OP, SUB, CLR, and COJ. The effect of each of the bits of the PARAM register is discussed in greater detail below.

The PARAM register can be read and written by the core 14. It can also be written by command-list execution unit, by using the LPARAM instruction. The contents of the PARAM register are not affected any of the command list instructions except for LPARAM. The value written into PARAM.LENGTH must be greater then 0.

Command-List Repeat Register ##STR24##

The structure of the repeat register is as follows: ##STR25##

The REPEAT register is used, together with appropriate commands, to implement loops and branches in the command list. The count is used to specify the number of times a loop in the command list is to be repeated. The target is used to specify a jump address within the command list.

The REPEAT register can be read and written by the core 14. It can also be read and written by the command-list execution unit by using SREPEAT and LREPEAT instructions respectively. The value of REPEAT.COUNT changes during the execution of the DJNZ command.

D. CPU Core Interface Control and Status Registers

The CPU core interface control and status registers are used for synchronization between the DSPM 12 and the CPU core 14. Values stored in dedicated registers may change as a result of executing vector instructions, as described in greater detail below.

Abort Register ##STR26##

The ABORT register is used to force execution of the command list to halt. Writing any value into this register stops execution, and clears the contents of OVF, EXT, DSPINT and DSPMASK. The ABORT register can only be written and only by the core 14.

External Memory Reference control Register ##STR27##

The structure of the external memory reference control register is as follows: ##STR28##

The EXT register controls external references. The command-list execution unit checks the value of EXT.HOLD before each external memory reference. When EXT.HOLD is "0", external memory references are allowed. When EXT.HOLD "1", and external memory references are requested, the execution of the command list will be halted. The execution will be resumed as soon as EXT.HOLD is "0". Upon reset, and whenever the ABORT register is written, EXT.HOLD is cleared to "0". The EXT register can be read or written by the core.

Command-List Execution Status Register ##STR29##

The structure of the command-list status register is as follows: ##STR30##

The CLSTAT register displays the current status of the execution of the command list. When the command-list execution is idle, CLSTAT.RUN is "0", and when it is active, CLSTAT.RUN is "-1". Upon reset, the CLSTAT register is cleared to "0". It can be only be read, and only by the core 14.

Interrupt Control Registers ##STR31##

The structure of the interrupt and the mask registers is as follows: ##STR32##

The DSPINT register holds the current status of interrupt requests. Whenever execution of the command list is stopped, the DSPINT.HALT bit is set to "1". The DSPINT is a read only register. It is cleared to "0" whenever it is read, whenever the ABORT register is written, and upon reset.

The DSPMASK register is used to mask the DSPINT.HALT flag. An interrupt request is transferred to the interrupt logic whenever the DSPINT.HALT bit is set to "1", and the DSPMASK.HALT bit is unmasked (set to "1"). DSPMASK can be read and written by the core 14. Upon reset, and whenever the ABORT register is written, all the bits in DSPMASK are cleared to "0".

The structure of the NMISTAT register is as follows: ##STR33##

The NMISTAT holds the status of the current pending Non-Maskable Interrupt (NMI) requests.

Whenever the core 14 attempts to access the DSPM address space while the CLSTAT.RUN bit is "1" (except for accesses to the CLSTAT, EXT, DSPINT, NMISTAT DSPMASI4, and ABORT registers) NMISTAT.ERR is set to "1".

Whenever there is an attempt to execute a DBPT instruction, a reserved DSPM instruction, the NMISTAT.UND bit is set to "1".

When the Watch Dog is not cleared on time, the NMISTAT.WD bit is set to "1".

When one of the bits in NMISTAT is set to "1", an NMI request to the core is issued.

NMISTAT is a read only register. It is cleared each time its contents are read. This allows the NMI handler to decide which of the NMI sources requested the NMI. Note that more than one of the bits of NMISTAT can be set to "1" (one example is a DSPM error and a WD timeout at the same time). Note also that if a second NMI occurs while an NMI is in process, it is possible that the second NMI will read the NMISTAT and clear it. Thus, the first NMI will read a value of `0` from the NMISTAT. For proper operation, the NMI handler must read the NMISTAT and if with more than one bit set to "1", must take care of the two sources. The NMISTAT register is cleared to `0` upon reset.

E. Command List Format

All commands have the same fixed format, consisting of a 5bit opcode field and a 11-bit arg field, as shown below: ##STR34##

The opcode field specifies an operation to be performed. The arg field interpretation is determined by the class to which the command belongs. There are several classes of commands, as follows:

Load Register Instructions

Store Register Instructions

Adjust Register Instructions

Flow Control Instructions

Internal Memory Move Instructions

External Memory Move Instructions

Arithmetic/Logical Instructions

Multiply-and-Accumulate Instructions

Multiply-and-Add Instructions

Clipping and Min/Max Instructions

Special Instructions

The formal description below of the DSPM command-list code instruction set is based on the "C" programming language, using the following conventions:

    ______________________________________                                         low      Bits 0 through 15 of a 32-bits entity.                                high     Bits 16 through 31 of a 32-bits entity.                               LENG     value of PARAM.LENGTH.                                                A        Accumulator.                                                          aligned.sub.-- addr                                                                     An even number in the range [0,2.sup.16), used for                             specifying a double word-aligned address in                                    internal memory.                                                      mem[k]   A value in internal memory whose first word                                    address is k, where 0 ≦ k < 2.sup.16.                          ext.sub.-- mem[k]                                                                       A value in external memory whose first byte                                    address is k, where 0 ≦ k < 2.sup.32.                          X        Vector in internal memory whose first address                                  is pointed to by X.ADDR.                                              Y        Vector in internal memory whose first address                                  is pointed to by Y.ADDR.                                              Z        Vector in internal memory whose first address                                  is pointed to by Z.ADDR.                                              X[n]     A value in internal memory whose address is                                    formed by adding an offset to a cyclic buffer base                             address. The base address is formed by clearing the                            (X.WRAP-1) less-significant bits of X.ADDR. The                                offset within the buffer is calculated by:                                     (X.ADDR + n × 2.sup.X.INCR) modulo 2.sup.X.WRAP.                Y[n]     A value in internal memory whose address is                                    formed by adding an offset to a cyclic buffer base                             address. The base address is formed by clearing the                            (Y.WRAP-1) less-significant bits of Y.ADDR. The                                offset within the buffer is calculated by:                                     (Y.ADDR + n × 2.sup.Y.INCR) molulo 2.sup.Y.WRAP.                Z[n]     A value in internal memory whose address is                                    formed by adding an offset to a cyclic buffer base                             address. The base address is formed by clearing the                            (Z.WRAP-1) less-significant bits of Z.ADDR. The                                offset within the buffer is calculated by:                                     (Z.ADDR + n × 2.sup.Z.INCR) modulo 2.sup.Z.WRAP.                &X[n]    The word address of X[n].                                             &Y[n]    The word address of Y[n].                                             &X[n]    The word address of Z[n].                                             ______________________________________                                    

The following data type definitions are used in the DSPM command-list code instruction set description:

    ______________________________________                                         integer   An integer value.                                                    aligned.sub.-- integer                                                                   An aligned integer value.                                            real      A real value.                                                        aligned.sub.-- real                                                                      An aligned real value.                                               extend    An extended-precision real value.                                    complex   A complex value.                                                     ext-address                                                                              A 32-bit value used for external memory access.                      vector.sub.-- ptr                                                                        A valid value for X, Y, and Z registers.                             repeat.sub.-- reg                                                                        A valid value for REPEAT register.                                   ovf.sub.-- reg                                                                           A valid value for OVF register.                                      param.sub.-- reg                                                                         A valid value for PRAM register.                                     eabr.sub.-- reg                                                                          A valid value for EABR register.                                     real.sub.-- acc                                                                          A 34-bit value inside either the real part or the                              imaginary part of the accumulator.                                   complex.sub.-- acc                                                                       A 68-bit value inside the complex accumulator.                       ______________________________________                                    

General Remarks

The values of EABR, PARAM, X, Y, and Z registers are not changed by execution of the command list.

Some instructions use the accumulator as a temporary register and therefore destroy its contents. In general, it should be assumed that the contents of the accumulator is unpredictable after an instruction terminates, unless stated otherwise in the notes section following that instructions formal specification.

Non-complex instructions that use the accumulator, can use either the real or the imaginary parts, or both. In general, when an integer or real data type is to be read, it is taken from the real part. An extended-precision real data type is taken from the imaginary part. When a non-complex data type is loaded in the accumulator (by the LEA instruction or within other instructions prior to saving it into memory), it is written to both real and imaginary parts.

Rounding of real, aligned real, and complex results is implemented by copying PARAM.RND into bit position 14 of both real and imaginary part of the accumulator, performing the requested operation, and truncating the contents of the accumulator upon storing results to memory. In Multiply-and-Add instructions and some of the special instructions this is done transparently on each vector element iteration. In Multiply-and-Accumulate instructions, when PARAM.CLR is "0", the previous content of the accumulator is used, so that rounding control is actually performed when the accumulator is first loaded and not when the multiply operations is executed. On the other hand, if PARAM.CLR is "1", the PARAM.RND value is copied into the bit 14 of the cleared accumulator, so that rounding control is done at the same time that the multiply operation is executed.

In operations on complex operands, the order of accumulation is as follows: the result of the multiplication with the real part of the X operand is added first to the accumulator, and only then the result of the multiplication with the imaginary part of the X operand is added.

In general, the X, Y and Z vectors can overlap. However, because of the pipelined structure of the DSPM datapath, the user must verify that a value written into the DSPM internal memory will not be used in the same vector instruction as a source operand for the next 8 iterations.

The description below specifies the encoding of each DSPM instruction. All other values are reserved for future use. Any attempt to execute any reserved instructions will terminate execution of the command list, issue an NMI request, and set NMISTAT.UND to "1". In this case the contents of the EXT, and DSPMASK remains unchanged, but the contents of the OVF, and Accumulator may change.

Load Register Instructions

LX--Load X Vector Pointer

The LX instruction loads the double-word at aligned.addr into the X register. ##STR35##

LY--Load Y Vector Pointer

The LY instruction loads the double word at aligned₋₋ addr into the Y register. ##STR36##

LZ--Load Z Vector Pointer

The LZ instruction loads the double word at aligned₋₋ addr into the Z register. ##STR37##

Load Accumulator

The LA instruction loads the complex value at aligned₋₋ addr into the A accumulator as a complex value. ##STR38##

When PARAM.RND is set to "1", bit 14 of the real and imaginary parts is set to "1", in order to implement rounding upon subsequent additions into the accumulator. Otherwise, it is cleared to "0".

LEA--Load Extended Accumulator

The LEA instruction loads the contents of the accumulator with the extended value specified by X[0]. ##STR39##

LPARAM--Load Parameters Register

The LPARAM instruction loads the double-word ##STR40##

LREPEAT--Load Repeat Register

The LREPEAT instruction loads the double-word at aligned₋₋ addr into the REPEAT register. ##STR41##

LEABR--Load External Address Base Register

The LEABR instruction loads the double-word at mem[aligned₋₋ addr] into the EABR register. ##STR42## STORE REGISTER INSTRUCTIONS

SX--Store X Vector Pointer

The SX instruction stores the contents of the X register into the double-word at aligned₋₋ addr. ##STR43##

SXL--Store X Vector Pointer Lower Half

The SXL instruction stores the contents of the lower-half of the X register into the word at mem[addr]. ##STR44##

SXH--Store X Vector Pointer Higher Half

The SXH instruction stores the contents of the higher-half of the X register into the word at med[addr]. ##STR45##

SY--Store Y Vector Pointer

The SY instruction stores the contents of the Y register into the double-word at aligned₋₋ addr. ##STR46##

SZ--Store Z Vector Pointer

The SZ instruction stores the contents of the Z register into the double-word at aligned₋₋ addr. ##STR47##

SA--Store Accumulator

The SA instruction stores the contents of the A accumulator as a complex value into mem[aligned₋₋ addr]. ##STR48##

SEA--Store Extended Accumulator

The SEA stores the contents of the imaginary accumulator bits 0 to 30 as an extended value into a DSPM memory location specified by Z[0]. Bit zero of this location is cleared to `0`. ##STR49##

SREPEAT--Store Repeat Register

The SREPEAT instruction stores the contents of the REPEAT register in the double-word at mem[aligned₋₋ addr]. ##STR50## ADJUST REGISTER INSTRUCTIONS

INCX--Increment X Vector Pointer

The INCX instruction increments the X vector pointer by one element, according to the increment and the wrap. ##STR51##

INCY--Increment Y Vector Pointer

The INCY instruction increments the Y vector pointer by one element, according to the increment and the wrap. ##STR52##

INCZ--Store Z Vector Pointer

The INCZ instruction increments the Z vector pointer by one element, according to the increment and the wrap. ##STR53##

DECX--Decrement X Vector Pointer

The DECX instruction decrements the X vector pointer by one element, according to the increment and the wrap. ##STR54##

DECY--Decrement Y Vector Pointer

The DECY instruction decrements the Y vector pointer by one element, according to the increment and the wrap. ##STR55##

DECZ--Decrement Z Vector Pointer

The DECZ instruction decrements the Z vector pointer by one element, according to the increment and the wrap. ##STR56## FLOW CONTROL INSTRUCTIONS

NOPR--No Operation

The NOPR command passes control to the next command in the command list. No operation is performed. ##STR57##

HALT--Terminate Command-List Execution

The HALT command terminates execution of the command list. No further commands are executed. This event is made visible to the CPU core, as specified in Sec. 3.6. ##STR58##

DJNZ--Decrement and Jump If Not Zero

The DJNZ command is used to implement loops and branches in the in the command list. The value of the REPEAT.COUNT field is decremented by 1 and compared to 0. If it is not equal to 0, then execution of the command list continues with the command located in the RAM address specified by the REPEAT.TARGET field. When the REPEAT.COUNT field is equal to 0, then execution continues with the next command in the command list.

The DSPM has only one REPEAT register. To next loops, user must save the contents of the REPEAT register before starting an inner loop, and restore it at the end of the inner loop. ##STR59##

DBPT--Debug Breakpoint

The DBPT instruction is used for implementing software debug breakpoint in the DSPM command-list. Whenever there is an attempt to execute a DBPT instruction, the NMIS-TAT.UND bit is set to "1", (See Sec. 3.4.4). ##STR60## INTERNAL MEMORY MOVE INSTRUCTIONS

VRMOV--Vector Real Move

The VRMOV instruction copies the real X vector to the real Z vector. ##STR61##

VRMOV--Vector Aligned Real Move

The VARMOV instruction copies the aligned real X vector to the aligned real Z vector. ##STR62##

VRGATH--Vector Real Gather

The VRGATH instruction gathers non-contiguous elements of the X real vector, as specified by the Y integer vector, and places them in contiguous locations in the Z real vector. ##STR63##

VRSCAT--Vector Real Scatter

The VRSCAT instruction scatters contiguous elements of the X real vector, and places them in non-contiguous locations in the Z real vector, as specified by the Y integer vector. ##STR64## EXTERNAL MEMORY MOVE INSTRUCTIONS

The VXLOAD instruction loads a vector from external memory into the Z vector. The external memory address is specified in the EABR and X registers.

VXLOAD--Vector External Load

The DECX instruction decrements the X vector pointer by one element, according to the increment and the wrap. ##STR65##

VXSTORE--Vector External Store

The VXSTORE instruction stores the Z vector into an external memory vector. The external memory address is specified in the EABR and X registers. ##STR66##

VXGATH--Vector External Gather

The VXGATH instruction gathers non-contiguous elements of the external memory vector, as specified by the Y integer vector, and places them in contiguous locations in the Z real vector. The external memory address is specified in the EABR and X registers. ##STR67## ARITHMETIC/LOGICAL INSTRUCTIONS

VROP--Vector Real Op

The VROP instruction performs one of 7 operations between corresponding elements of the X and Y real vectors, and writes the result in the corresponding place in the Z output vector. The operation to be performed is specified in PARAM.OP field. ##STR68## The allowed values in PARAM.OP are: ##STR69##

VAROP--Vector Aligned Real Op

The VAROP instruction performs one of 7 operations between corresponding elements of the X and Y aligned vectors, and writes the result in the corresponding place in the Z output vector. The operation to be performed is specified in PARAM.OP field. ##STR70## MULTIPLY-AND-ACCUMULATE INSTRUCTIONS

VRMAC--Vector Real Multiply and Accumulate

The VRMAC instruction performs a convolution sum of the X and Y real vectors. The previous value of the accumulator is used and the result stored in Z[0]. ##STR71##

VCMAC--Vector Complex Multiply and Accumulate

The VCMAC instruction performs a convolution sum of the X and Y complex vectors. The previous value of the accumulator is used, and the result is stored in Z[0]. ##STR72##

VRLATP--Vector Real Lattice Propagate

The VRLATP instruction is used for implementing lattice and inverse lattice filter operations. This instruction is used to update the propagating values of vector Z. ##STR73##

VCLATP--Vector Complex Lattice Propagate

The VCLATP instruction is used for implementing lattice and inverse lattice filter operations. This instruction is used to update the propagating values of vector Z. ##STR74## MULTIPLY-AND-ADD INSTRUCTION

VAIMAD--Vector Aligned Integer Multiply and Add

The VAIMAD instruction multiplies corresponding elements of the X and Y integer vectors, and adds or subtracts the result, as an integer value, to the integer vector Z. This result is placed in the Z output vector. ##STR75##

VRMAD--Vector Real Multiply and Add

The VRMAD instruction multiplies corresponding elemems of the X and Y real vectors and adds or subtracts the result to the real vector Z. This result is placed in the Z output vector. ##STR76##

VARMAD--Vector Aligned Real Multiply and Add

The VARMAD instruction multiplies corresponding elements of the X and Y real vectors and adds or subtracts the result to the real vector Z. This result is placed in the Z output vector. ##STR77##

VCMAD--Vector Complex Multiply and Add

The VCMAD instruction multiplies the corresponding elements of the X and Y complex vectors and adds or subtracts the result to the complex vector Z. This result is placed in the Z output vector. ##STR78## CLIPPING AND MIN/MAX INSTRUCTIONS

VARABS--Vector Aligned Real Absolute Value

The VARABS instruction computes the absolute value of each element in the real vector X and places the result in the corresponding place in the Y output vector. ##STR79##

VARMIN--Vector Aligned Real Minimum

The VARMIN instruction compares corresponding elements of the X and Y real vectors, and writes the smaller of the two in the corresponding place in the Z integer vector. ##STR80##

VARMAX--Vector Aligned Real Maximum

The VARMAX instruction compares corresponding elements of the X and Y real vectors, and writes the larger of the two in the corresponding place in the Z integer vector. ##STR81##

VRFMIN--Vector Real Find Minimum

The VRFMIN instruction scans the X real vector and returns the address of the element with the smallest value. The resulting address is placed in Z[0]. ##STR82##

VRFMAX--Vector Real Find Maximum

The VRFMAX instruction scans the X real vector and returns the address of the element with maximum value. The resulting address is placed in Z[0]. ##STR83##

EFMAX--Extended Find Maximum

The EFMAX iratraction implements a single iteration of maximum search loop. The extended value in the accumulator is compared with the first element of the extended Z vector. The larger value is stored back into the Z vecort. In case the larger value was the accumulator, then is stored in the second location of the Z-vector (as an integer). ##STR84## SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

ESHL--Extended Shift Left

The ESHL instruction performs a shift-left operation on extended-precision data in the accumulator, and stores the more significant half of the result as a real value into the first element of the real Z vector. ##STR85##

VCPOLY--Vector Complex Polynomial

The VCPOLY instructions performs one iteration of evaluating a polynomial with real coefficients, for a vector of complex-valued arguments, including down-scaling of the coefficients to avoid overflow. In addition, the instruction accumulates the scaled-down energy, with a decay factor, of the polynomial's real coefficients. ##STR86##

VDECIDE--Vector Nearest Neighbor Decision Logic

The VDECIDE instruction is used to implement nearest neighbor decision in Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) modem applications. The input is the X complex vector. The output is placed in the Z integer vector, which can be used as an index vector to extract information from lookup tables. The indicated constant values are taken from the Y vector. ##STR87##

VDIST--Vector Euclidean Distance

The VDIST instruction calculates the square of the Euclidean distance between corresponding elements of the X and Y complex vectors, and places the result in the Z real vector. ##STR88##

VFFT--Vector Fast Fourier Transform

The VFFT instruction implements one pass of in-place FFT vector update, according to the radix-2 FFT method. ##STR89##

VESIIR--Vector Extended Single-Pole IIR

The VESIIR instruction performs a special form of an Infinite-Inpules Response (IIR) filter. The samples and coefficient are given as real values, as well as the output result. However, the accumulation is performed using extended-precision arithmetic. ##STR90## F. CPU Core Interface

The interface between the DSPM 12 and the CPU core 14 consists of the following elements:

Parallel operation synchronization

CPU core address space map

External memory references

Synchronization of Parallel Operation

Since the DSPM 12 is capable of autonomous operation parallel to the operation of the CPU core 14, a mechanism is needed to synchronize the two threads of execution. The parallel synchronization mechanism consists of several control and status registers, which are used to synchronize the following activities:

Initiation of the command list execution

Termination of the command list execution

Check of the DSPM status

Access to DSPM internal RAM 28 and registers by CPU core instructions

Access to external memory by DSPM commands

The following CPU core interface control and status registers, listed in Table VI, are available:

                  TABLE VI                                                         ______________________________________                                         Register     Function                                                          ______________________________________                                         CLPTR        Command-list pointer                                              CLSTAT       Command-list status register                                      ABORT        Abort register                                                    OVF          Overflow register                                                 EXT          Disable external memory references                                DSPINT       Interrupt register                                                DSPMASK      Mask register                                                     NMISTAT      NMI status register                                               ______________________________________                                    

Execution of the command list begins when the CPU core 14 writes a value into the CLPTR control register. This causes the DSPM command-list execution unit to begin executing commands, starting at the address written to the CLPTR register. If the written value is outside the range of valid RAM addresses, then the result is unpredictable.

Once started, execution of the command list continues until one of the following occurs: a HALT command is executed, the CPU core 14 writes any value into the ABORT control register, an attempt to execute a reserved command, an attempt to access the DSPM address space while the CLSTAT.RUN bit is "1" (except for accesses to the CLSTAT, EXT, DSPINT, DSPMASK, NMISTAT, and ABORT registers), or reset occurs. In the last case, the contents of the DSPM internal RAM, REPEAT, and CLPTR registers are unpredictable when execution terminates.

The CLSTAT status register can be read by CPU core instructions to check whether execution of the DSPM command list is active or idle. A "0" value read from the CLSTAT.RUN bit indicates that execution is idle and a "1" value indicates that it is active.

Whenever the execution of the command list terminates, CLSTAT.RUN changes its value from "1" to "0", and DSPINT.HALT is set to "1". The value of the DSPINT.HALT status bit can be used to generate interrupts.

The DSPM internal RAM 28 and the dedicated registers, as well as the interface control and status registers, are mapped into certain areas of the CPU core address space, as described below. Whenever execution of the DSPM command list is idle, CPU core instructions may access these memory areas for any purpose, exactly as they would access external off-chip memory locations. However, when the DSPM command list execution unit is active, any attempt to read or write a location within the above memory areas, except for accessing the CLSTAT, EXT, DSPMASK, DSPINT, NMISTAT, or ABORT control registers, described below will be ignored by the DSPM 12. All read data will have unpredictable values and any attempt to write data will not change the DSPM RAM 28 and registers. Whenever such an access occurs, NMISTAT.ERR bit is set to "1", an NMI request to the core is issued, and the command list execution terminates. In this case, as the command-list execution terminates asyncronously, the currently executed command may be aborted. The DSPM RAM 28 and the A, X, Y, Z, and REPEAT registers may hold temporary values created in this aborted instruction.

Some of the vector instructions executable by the DSPM 12 can access external off-chip memory to transfer data in or out of the internal RAM 28, or to reference large lookup tables. Normally, external memory references initiated by the DSPM 12 and CPU core 14 are interleaved by the CPU core bus-arbitration logic. As a result, it is the user's responsibility, to make sure that whenever a write operation is involved, the DSPM 12 and CPU core 14 should not reference the same external memory locations, since the order of these transactions is unpredictable.

In order to ensure fast response for time-critical interrupt requests, the DSPM external referencing mechanism will relinquish the core bus for one clock cycle after each memory transaction. This allows the core 14 to use the bus for one memory transaction. To further enhance the core speed on critical interrupt routines, the EXT.HOLD control Bag is provided.

Whenever the core sets EXT.HOLD to "1", the DSPM 12 stops its external memory references. When the DSPM 12 needs to perform an external memory reference but is disabled, it is placed in a HOLD state until a value of "0", is written to the EXT.HOLD control register.

DSPM Address Space Map and Memory Organization

DSPM internal RAM locations are mapped to 32-bit words. The mapping of these locations to CPU core address space is shown below, where base corresponds to the start of the mapped area (address 0xFFFE0000): ##STR91##

As stated above, the RAM array 28 is not restricted to use by the DSPM 12, but can also be used by the CPU core 14 as a fast, zero wait-state, on-chip memory for instructions and data storage. The CPU core 14 can access the RAM 28 with byte, word, and double-word access types, on any byte boundary.

DSPM dedicated registers are mapped to memory locations as shown in the following table VII:

                  TABLE VII                                                        ______________________________________                                         Register Size        Address     Access Type                                   ______________________________________                                         PARAM    double-word 0xFFFF8000  Read/Write                                    OVF      word        0xFFFF8004  Read/Only                                     X        double-word 0xFFFF8008  Read/Write                                    Y        double-word 0xFFFF800C  Read/Write                                    Z        double-word 0xFFFF8010  Read/Write                                    A        double-word 0xFFFF8014  Read/Write                                    REPEAT   double-word 0xFFFF8018  Read/Write                                    CLPTR    word        0xFFFF8020  Read/Write                                    EABR     double-word 0xFFFF8024  Read/Write                                    ______________________________________                                    

CPU core interface control and status registers are mapped to memory locations as shown in the following table VIII:

                  TABLE VIII                                                       ______________________________________                                         Register    Size     Address     Access Type                                   ______________________________________                                         CLSTAT      word     0xFFFF9000  Read Only                                     ABORT       word     0xFFFF9004  Write Only                                    DSPINT      word     0xFFFF9008  Read Only                                     DSPMASK     word     0xFFFF900C  Read/Write                                    EXT         word     0xFFFF9010  Read/Write                                    NMISTAT     word     0xFFFF9014  Read Only                                     ______________________________________                                    

Read and write operations by CPU core instructions to the DSPM registers must be done using operands of the same size as the registers' size.

G. Decision Algorithm

As stated above, the DSPM 12 implements a decision algorithm for a QAM/TCM software modem using "vector-deciote" and "vector-distance" vector DSP instructions.

The decision algorithm itself is a step within another algorithm which implements a QAM modem receiver entirely in software. The modem algorithm includes several other steps before and after the decision algorithm step that prepare input for it and use its output.

The modem algorithm, of which the decision algorithm is a part, is implemented as a subroutine that is called periodically at the appropriate baud rate. In this way, each activation of the modem routine corresponds to a single data symbol. On each activation, the modem routine obtains several digitized samples of the analog signal being carried by the phone line and performs filtering, demodulation, equalization and decoding operations according to the relevant protocol in order to extract the corresponding data bits that were sent. The decision algorithm is part of that decoding operations.

In a QAM modem, the data bits (after encoding in some protocols) are separated into groups called symbols. Each symbol is represented by a point in the complex plane out of a set of points called the constellation points. In the appropriate part of the modem receiver, the decision algorithm will get a complex point as an input and will decide which of the constellation points is the one that corresponds to it. This decided point will be the output.

In a Trellis Coded Modulation (TCM) modem the problem is more complicated. The constellation points are divided into subsets. As part of the TCM receiver, the decision algorithm should make a separate decision for every subset; that is, for each subset the corresponding constellation point will be found and the output will be a set of decided points corresponding to the subsets. Typically, the number of constellation points in TCM constellations is greater then that of non-TCM QAM modems.

One conventional way to reach the decision is to divide the plane into a grid of small squares. In each square, the decision will be the constellation point that most of the square is closest to. Then the decision can be made by entering a decision table with the input point and coming. out with the decided point. The problem is that for constellations like V.29, the decision is not optimal, meaning there are points on the plane for which one will make the wrong decision. It will happen in every square that one part of it is closer to one constellation point and another part is closer to another constellation point. In order to make these error zones smaller, one would have to use big decision tables that consume large memory space.

Another way to reach the decision is to look at the input complex point as a vector from the origin to the point in the complex plane, then calculate which of the constellation points is the decided one according to its phase and length relative to some boundaries. The problem with this approach is that for constellations like V.29, one will have the same problem of error zones.

The constellation points of TCM modems are typically on a cortesic grid. Therefore, the table decision algorithm described above is usually used. However, the table needed is very big and the fact that for each point there are several decisions to be made causes each entry of the table to contain several decided points. It is obvious that this method will require a lot of memory. One can use several smaller tables for each of the subsets, but still the memory consumption will be large.

Using the DSPM 12, better algorithms have been developed for the decision problem. The strength of the DSPM 12, its special vector instructions and its parallizm to the core, enable implementation of more optimal solutions for the decision algorithms.

1. Non TCM

For the non-TCM constellations, e.g. V./27-4800, 2400 and V.29-9600, 7200, where the number of the constellation points is relatively small, the DSPM 12 calculates the square euclidian distance from the input point to all the constellation points and determines the minimal one. This is the optimal decision, but usually is considered too hard to implement. The DSPM powerful vector instructions enable it to be done.

The implementation for V.29-9600 bps is illustrated in the following example. Its constellation points diagram is given in FIG. 23.

Inputs:

The input point--1 complex number

Table of constellation points--16 complex numbers

Output:

Decided constellation point--1 complex number

Calculating the distances between the input point and all the constellation points will be done with ONE vector command--VDIST:

X pointer--table of constellation points, incr=2

Y pointer--input point, wrap=1

Z pointer--distances to 16 constellation points, incr=1

PARAMETERS--LENG=16

VDIST

Finding the minimal distance will be done with ONE vector command--VRFMIN:

X pointer--distances to 16 constellation points, incr=1

Z pointer--minimal distance pointer

PARAMETERS--leng=16

VRFMIN

Getting the decided point will be done in two steps. First, calculating the offset of the decided point in the constellation points table using the VROP command:

X pointer--minimal distance pointer

Y pointer--address of the vector: distances to 16 constellation points

Z pointer--offset of the decided point in the constellation points table

PARAMETERS--leng=1, op=SUB

VROP

Second, getting the decided point from the table using the VRGATH command.

X pointer--table of constellation points

Y pointer--offset of the decided point in the constellation points table

Z pointer--decided point (the outut!)

PARAMETERS--leng=2

VRGATH

2. TCM

In the proposed decision algorithm for TCM modems, the fact that the subsets have similar shapes is exploited. Actually, the subsets have identical shapes, but only translated and rotated. For example, the subset in FIG. 24B should be translated by (+1, -1) and rotated by +90 deg in order to overlap the subset in FIG. 24E. Note that there are constellations like V.17-9600 which have two types of subsets, each one having the properties mentioned above.

Consider an example: V.17-14400. The constellation and subsets are shown in FIGS. 24A-24I. In FIG. 25 shows a subset of that constellation that is centered at the origin and called: the general subset. For each of the subsets/there is a different translation (adding an offset) and rotation that will bring it to the general subset.

In order to make the decision for a specific subset, one should apply the same transformation to the input point; that is, add to the offset and rotate the rotation and use the general subset to make a decision using the one, small decision-table. The output would be a decided point that is one of the general subset points. This point will be translated to the final decision point for this subset by doing the inverse transformation that was done to the input point, i.e. back rotate the rotation and substract the offset.

The same can be done to all the subsets and so one would make the decision for all the subsets using one small decision table. This algorithm may seem slow and complicated, but using the DSPM 12, it becomes very simple to implement and also very fast.

The implementation for V.17-14400 bps will be shown as an example.

    ______________________________________                                         Inputs:                                                                        The input point        1 complex number.sup.                                   Table of general subset constellation points                                                          16 complex numbers                                      Table of translations for the deferent subsets                                                        8 complex numbers                                       Table of rotations for the deferent subsets                                                           8 complex numbers                                       Output:                                                                        Decided constellation points for all the                                                              8 complex number.sup.                                   subsets                                                                        In the modem, the output of the decision will be also the                      BITS that correlate to the decoded point. These bits come                      as natural byproduct of our decision algorithm so we will                      add to the inputs/outputs:                                                     Inputs (cont):                                                                 Table of the bits of the decisions                                                                    32 real numbers                                         Output (cont):                                                                 Decided bits for all the subsets                                                                      8 real numbers                                          The input point in translated and rotated 8 times for the 8                    deferent subsets. It will be done in 2 commands. VAROP -                       translation and VCMAD - rotation                                               X pointer - input point, wrap = 1                                              Y pointer - table of translations for the deferent subsets, incr = 2           Z pointer - temporary vector, incr = 2                                         PARAMETERS - leng = 8, op = ADD                                                VAROP                                                                          X pointer - temporary vector, incr = 2                                         Y pointer - table of rotations for th deferent subsets, incr = 2               Z pointer - temporary vector, incr = 2                                         PARAMETERS - leng = 8, CLR                                                     VCMAD                                                                          For each of the 8 points a decision should be made on the                      same general subset. It will be done with the VDECIDE                          command that will give a `pointer` for each point that will                    be used later.                                                                 X pointer - temporary vector, incr = 2                                         Y pointer - constants for the decision                                         Z pointer - decision indexes, incr = 1                                         PARAMETERS - LENG = 8                                                          VDECIDE                                                                        Using those `pointers` the bits that correspond to the                         decisions will be gathered.                                                    X pointer - table of the bits of the decisions                                 Y pointer - decision indexes, incr = 1                                         Z pointer - decided bits, incr = 1                                             PARAMETERS - leng = 8                                                          VRGATH                                                                         The decided bits are also the `pointers` to the table of the                   general subset constellation points. Using the real and                        imaginary of the points will be gathered with 2 calls to the                   VRGATH command.                                                                X pointer - table of general subset constellation points (real                 values)                                                                        Y pointer - decided bits, incr = 1                                             Z pointer - decided points, incr = 2                                           PARAMETERS - leng = 8                                                          VRGATH                                                                         X pointer - table of general subset constellation points (imaginary            values)                                                                        Y pointer - decided bits, incr = 1                                             Z pointer - decided points + 1, incr = 2                                       PARAMETERS - leng = 8                                                          VRGATH                                                                         The decided points in the general subset have to be trans-                     lated and rotated back for the deferent 8 subsets. It will be                  done in 2 commands. VAROP - translation back and                               VCMAD - back rotation. Note that in VAROP we use                               SUB and in VCMAD we use COJ.                                                   X pointer - decided points, incr = 2                                           Y pointer - table of translations for the deferent subsets, incr = 2           Z pointer - decided points, incr = 2                                           PARAMETERS - leng = 8, op = SUB                                                VAROP                                                                          X pointer - decided points, incr = 2                                           Y pointer - table of rotations for the deferent subsets, incr = 2              Z pointer - decided points (the output!) incr = 2                              PARAMETERS - leng = 8, COJ, CLR                                                VCMAD                                                                          ______________________________________                                    

H. Debug Features

The system 10 also includes debug features and a scheme for enabling breakpointing and execution resumption for the parallel DSPM 12 and CPU core 14.

Whenever either DSPINT.ILL or DSPINT.ERR are set to "1", an NMI occurs and the DSPM command-list execution is halted. This change helps define a debugger for the DSPM 12. On a debug session, when the user needs a break point, the debugger can replace the instruction in the location of the break point with an illegal instruction. When the DSPM 12 tries to execute this illegal instruction, the DSPINT.ILL is set and command-list execution is halted. The CPU core 14 then stops its execution and begins to handle the NMI. The debugger software can catch this NMI and test the DSPINT.ILL to check whether an illegal instruction caused this NMI.

DSPMASK.ILL and DSPMASK.ERR are eliminated and bit 1 and 2 of the DSPMASK register become reserved.

I. DSPM Mechanisms

The DSPM 12 provides a mechanism for a microsequencer for interpretation of the DSPM command-list and execution of vector instructions. It also provides a mechanism for implementing backward loops for vector instruction execution by marking a visited microinstruction entry.

The microcode definition for these mechanisms is provided as Appendix A to this detailed description of the invention; Appendix A is to be considered an integral part of this patent specification.

The DSPM 12 also provides a mechanism for addressing into a microcoded routine by using the entry point address as an op-code, thereby eliminating the need for an address decoder. It also provides a mechanism for protecting against invalid op-codes that are implemented as entry point addresses by a special "valid-entry" marking in each microcode line.

The DSPM 12 also provides a mechanism for implementing vector address pointer registers, including incrementation and wrap-around logic. These mechanisms will now be described in greater detail.

In the mechanism for implementing vector address pointer registers, including incrementation and wrap-around logic, a loader state machine reads an instruction from RAM (address HLPCR), decodes it and executes it. After each fetch the HLRAR register is incremented and loaded into HLPCR for the next sequential fetch. The block diagram for this operation is shown in FIG. 27.

For an EXEC command, the execution is done by loading the entry point into the microcode and waiting for ROM execution. Instruction DJNZ is executed by loading HLJAD into HLPCR as the next address if the repeat counter is not zero. Nop command is executed by incrementing HLPCR. Load & store instructions are executed by loading the elem lsb of CMR into the RAM address register and (on the next cycle) passing data between the RAM and the register.

The instruction coding for the state machine are:

    ______________________________________                                         Load  OOXXMMM, XX is num of register (3 bits) and MMM                                is ram address (11 bits)                                                 Store 01XXMMM, XX is num of register (3 bits) and MMM                                is ram address (11 bits)                                                 EXEC  10000MM, MM is rom entry point (12 bits)                                 NOPR  11001MM, MM is don't care                                                HALT  11010MM, MM is don't care                                                DJNZ  11100MM, MM is don't care                                                ______________________________________                                    

A state machine flow diagram is shown in FIG. 28. FIG. 29 shows a timing diagram of instruction execution by the loader.

All registers and busses are 16 bits unless otherwise written.

    ______________________________________                                         LOADER DATAPATH FUNCTIONS                                                      *     Ram RD/WR to/from HBB. Address in HLRAR reg.                                   Data should be:                                                                Aligned 32 bit                                                                 Aligned 16 bit                                                                 Swapped 16 bit                                                           *     Possible sources of HBB: Accumulator,                                          X reg, Y reg, Z reg, LEN & OPT                                                 Repeat counter & Jump address reg, HLPCR,                                *     Possible dest. of HBB:, Accumulator,                                           X reg, Y reg, Z reg, LEN & OPT                                                 Repeat counter & Jump address reg, HLPCR,                                *     HLRAR loaded from: HLPCR, CMR, HLJAD                                     *     Increment XAR by XIR masked by XWR                                       *     Increment YAR by YIR masked by YWR                                       *     Increment ZAR by ZIR masked by ZWR                                       *     Decrement HLLPR (len reg.) & indicate zero                               *     Decrement HLRPR (repeat reg.) & indicate zero                            ______________________________________                                    

For each register group X, Y and Z, there are three registers: address, increment and wrap. Each register is 16 bits. For compaction of LOAD/STORE instructions, it would be preferred to encode this data into one 32 bit register. The 16 MSB will be the address register, for which there is no possible compaction. The wrap and increment registers are special cases and can be defined by one 16 bit vector. The coding is the following:

    ______________________________________                                         Wrap:                0...001........1                                          Increment:           0.......0010...0                                          Encoded vector:      0....10..010...0                                          ______________________________________                                    

In the event that the wrap is all 1 (no wrap), then the encoded vector will be identical to the increment vector.

The decoding will be:

W(n): =EV(n) # W(n-1)

I(n): =EV(n) * W(n)

Where EV is the encoded vector, W is wrap vector and I is increment vector. The wrap vector will be different from the original wrap vector in the lab under the increment bit; i.e., the result in above example will be:

    ______________________________________                                         Wrap:               0...001...10...0                                           Increment:          0.......0010...0                                           ______________________________________                                    

Since these lsb in the address will not change in the increment, the value of these bits in the wrap vector is don't care.

    ______________________________________                                         In the FIG. 29 instruction flow timing diagram:                                Ram add - 1:DSPCMD                                                                       2:CMR                                                                          3:HLJAD                                                              Instructions/data from ram (HBB & CMR) -                                               1:Rd                                                                           2:data for Rd                                                                  3:nop                                                                          4:DJNZ                                                                         5:Exec (ucode)                                                                 6:Halt                                                                 State m = 1:Idle                                                                         2:Fetch                                                                        3:Read/write data                                                              4:ucode execution                                                    Ucode -   1:Stuck address                                                                2:CMR*O:10*=entry point                                                        3:routine                                                            ______________________________________                                    

Read/write operations by the CPU are controlled by a state machine. The address 16 lsb will be latched in CPU address register (see FIG. 27), and 16 msc will be decoded for HWANDAI signal. If HWANDAI is active, then the state machine will start the read/write operation and move to T2 state. On T2, if the address is not DSPABT, DSPSTA or DSPEXT and loader state machine is not IDLE, then HWAIT will be active and this state machine will move from T2 to WAIT state until HWAIT will be inactive; then it moves to T3, T4 and back to IDLE. FIG. 30 shows what is executed each cycle.

The microcode has three flow controls: Loop, Wait for flag & Stuck. If none of these controls is active, then the execution is sequential.

Loop uses the HUJAD register. While executing microcode instructions, when a "label" flag is discovered, the current upc incremented by 1 is stored into the HUJAD register as a return address of loop (this means the uassembler should label the preceding line). When executing a conditional jump uinstruction, if the condition is true, then the HUPCR is loaded from HUJAD instead of HUNPR.

Wait may be used for external bus cycles. There will be an input to the control logic which will disable the load of HUNPR into HUPCR and execution of the uinstruction while it is active. This signal will be an OR of all WAIT sources. One of the sources will be microcode itself, and this will cause the STUCK condition (microcode disables itself from increment). The stuck will be used in the following cases:

Global reset

Abort by CG

End of instruction

In the first two cases the HUPCR will be set to an address which has the STUCK flag. In the third case, there will be a STUCK flag in every end of instruction. The microcode will exit the STUCK case by loading a new value to HUPCR for new instruction execution. A block diagram of the microcode controller is shown in FIG. 31.

The microcode data path functions are as follows:

Load HUPCR from HLNA (controlled by loader).

Load HUPCR from Stuck constant for reset/abort (controlled by loader).

Load HUPCR from HUJAD (controlled by ucode).

Load HUPCR from HUNPR (controlled by ucode).

Load HUJAD from HUPCR (controlled by ucode).

Increment HUPCR into HUNPR every PHI2.

In FIG. 33:

HLNA, HUPCR, HUNPR & HUJAD values:

O: Stuck uaddress

EO: Entry point

En (n=1 . . . 6): Address n after entry point.

Cond select:

0:Never (stuck)

1:Always

2:Len reg.=0

3:HLDA

HNLUFD:Load ucode counter from HLNA

HNLUFI:Load ucode counter from ups incrementor

HNLUFJ:Load ucode counter from HUJAD

The microcode fields are as follows:

HBB read select

HBB write select

Execution Datapath Control:

K selector latch

L selector latch

HEB selector

HFB selector

HDB AI load

HDB AR load

Loader Datapath Control:

HLNA read select: HLCAR, XAR, YAR, ZAR, HLJAD, HLCMR & NOP.

HLNA write select: HLCAR, HLRAR & NOP, HUPCR is NOT in UCODE control.

HLIAD write to: XAR, YAR, ZAR & NOP

HLDCI read select: HLRPR, HLLPR

HLDCO write select: HLRPR, HLLPR & NOP

GNIOB drive: HLBIL (biu latch), HLCAR & NOP

GNIOB write select: HLBIL (BIU latch), HLCAR & NOP

Ucode Flow Control:

HUJAD load

HUPCR HUJAD if 'COND. If COND=1 then HUPCR is loaded with HUNPR always.

Wait condition select, HLDA, WAIT, DSPEXT, Len reg.>0,Always & Never.

Ucode buzy

Disable flags set: Accumulator load, Ram write & None

Disable flags reset

In microcode decoding control, there are 2 flags which can be set by (TBD either ucode or by entry point decoding): Accumulator load disable flag: When set, accumulator will not be loaded from ALU, and len decrement will be disabled while this flag is set. Ram write disable flag: When set, writing to RAM and ZAR increment, LEN decrement, and changing MIN/MAX FF will be disabled. These two flags will be reset by ucode special control. Odd len flag: This flag will disable write to high word of RAM. It will be set by attempt to decrement LEN register when it is zero. It will be reset by ucode when it is fetching new instruction.

The purpose of these flags is to begin loop on it's first iteration. On normal execution in pipe machine the flow is: ##STR92##

For this example, steps 1n1 to 4n1 are the first iteration, and steps 1n2 to 4n2 are a second iteration. The simple way to implement loop is to jump to T4 after executing T7. One problem is the waste of microcode. In this example iteration is 4 lines, but ucode length is 11 lines. The second and major problem is when the LEN register (loop counter) is one or two. In this case, the above sequence will execute 3 iterations.

The alternative is the following diagram: ##STR93##

In this diagram, on T1, devices dev2 and dev3 execute the same as in T5, and on T2, dev3 executes the same as in T6 of the first diagram. Result write to accumulator or RAM will be disabled on first iteration, because it will be garbage. The LEN decrement and ZAR increment will be disabled as well.

The purpose of the high word disable flag is real instructions, which each iteration executes two steps, and write 2 real results into the RAM/accumulator. There is a problem if the LEN register is odd. In the last iteration, we only "half" should be executed, i.e., only the first real result is relevant. In this type of instruction, there are two "decrement len reg" uinstructions every iteration, and if LEN is odd, it will be zero after first decrement. In this case, if there is another "decrement len reg" uinstruction, and the LEN register is zero, then there is indication that last real result of loop should be ignored.

The microassembler follows two rules: The label for a jump address is placed one microinstruction prior to execution and alen decrement effects zero detection only in the next cycle, i.e., decrement on the same cycle of loop jump is effective after the jump.

The DSPM 12 also includes a mechanism for specifying parameters for a vector operation by using parts of the op code field from a parameters register. A microde definintion for this mechanism is described in greater detail in Appendix B to this detailed description of the invention; Appendix B is to be considered an integral part of this patent specification.

J. Silence Detection Alaorithm

The system 10 also provides a silence detection algorithm for speech applications.

The Silence Detection Algorithm (SDA) is a scheme designed to differentiate between the cases of Speech and Speech+Noise in a speech compression system. Specifically, it is desired to compress silence with the most limited information consisting of: (i) the duration of a silent period, such as occurring between two words or sentences, and (ii) its power (RMS) level for regeneration purpose.

An SDA is usually a power detector, detecting speech+noise when the level of the received signal is larger than in the case of received noise alone. However, the level of noise is usually not constant, especially in the case of mobile radio communications, so that the thresholds of the silence and speech detection algorithms should be made adaptive.

Moreover, the beginning or end of words, or highly unvoiced speech, can have an energy level which could be equal to a silence (noise only) level. Hence, an SDA should have a mechanism which prevents low level received speech from being mistaken for silence, but at the same time preserves a maximal compression of the silence.

Another requirement is to regenerate silence as a signal which is hardly distinguishable from the original silence so that transition between speech and silence are felt natural.

An SDA which satisfies the above requirements includes the following elements:

1. Adaptive System Requirement and State Machine

A state machine controls the transition between the silent and speech period (SILENCE₋₋ STATE and SPEECH₋₋ STATE). Two adaptive thresholds for transition between the states of the state machine.

2. Differentiation between low level Speech and Silence Mechanism

For this purpose,the LPC analysis is performed. In a silent period, the LPC coefficients are stationary. When speech starts, the LPC coefficients exhibit a discontinuity which allows the detection of the beginning of a speech period in spite of a low level received signal. Likewise, start of a silent period will also require also such a discontinuity.

3. Silence Regeneration

Silence regeneration is based on filtered white noise. The noise level is set to the average of the received signal in the silent period. However, this level is multiplied by an attenuating factor which is a function of the level of the received signal in order to achieve the requirement of natural silence. Hence, the attenuating factor is adaptive, providing more attenuation during high level silence and less attenuation during low level silence.

K. DTMF

The system 10 also provides an algorithm for implementing DTMF detection in a manner compatible with the Mitel benchmark (i.e. the so-called-Mitel tape). The following describes how to implement a DTMF generator and DTMF detector in the architecture of the above-described system 10. The detector is based on a fast DFT algorithm which is very efficient for discrete frequencies.

In-band tonal signaling is used in many telephony administrations for dialing purposes. The usage of tonal can be attractive for controlling remote instruments as well, fax machines for example. The DTMF signaling scheme, described below, is faster than the current loop PULSE dialing. All number-0 . . . 9-are transmitted in a fix rate, about 1/10 see per number.

Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) is used for dialing via the telephony network of many countries. The signaling scheme is constructed from two sine waves which are transmitted simultaneously. For each number, two tones are assigned, one from LOW GROUP and the other from HIGH GROUP. According to the following Table X, i.e., one of 4 frequencies from the LOW GROUP and one of 4 frequencies form the HIGH GROUP.

The duration of a symbol is 40 ms. And a space of 60-40 ms. is inserted between numbers.

The power level of the two groups can be programmed. Usually the LOW GROUP power level must be attenuated in order to compensate for higher attenuation in the high band.

The difference in power level can be 0-4 db.

                  Table X                                                          ______________________________________                                                    Low Frequency                                                                              High Frequency                                          No.        Fl-Hz.-     fh-Hz.-                                                 ______________________________________                                         1          697         1209                                                    2          697         1336                                                    3          697         1477                                                    4          770         1209                                                    5          770         1336                                                    6          770         1477                                                    7          852         1209                                                    8          852         1336                                                    9          852         1477                                                    0          941         1336                                                    *          941         1209                                                    #          941         1477                                                    A          697         1633                                                    B          770         1633                                                    C          852         1633                                                    D          941         1633                                                    ______________________________________                                          Frequency deviation: less than 0.5%                                      

    ______________________________________                                         IMPLEMENTATION                                                                 DTMF.sub.-- TRANSIT.sub.-- INIT(power, diff)                                     Power: power level of the high group -0 ..-15 dbm-                             Diff: relative attenuation of low group -0 .. 4 db, 0.1 db res-                Program AFE for Transmit attenuation according to Power.                       Calculate Amplitude of the low frequency tone.                                 A1 = MAX * 10 exp (diff/20) 'MAX = 2 exp 15                                    (40 entries table)                                                            Return                                                                        DTMF-TRANSMIT (NUMBER : - 0 - 15- )                                             Get from a table with 16 (number) entries, two frequencies                     DFL, DFH.                                                                      The table is base on the frequency table above, each frequency                 is multiplied by ANGLE.sub.-- SCALE = (2 * 16)/Fs = 6.82666667                      Fs = 9600                                                                 DFL = fl * ANGLE.sub.-- SCALE                                                  DFH = fh & ANGLE.sub.-- SCALE                                                   Those are the incremental angles needed to be accumulated in                   the SIN wave generator.                                                        using 16 bit unsigned accumulation.                                           Init parameters                                                                Init timer for ON.sub.-- TIME = 40 ms.                                         Return                                                                        DTMF.sub.-- ON()                                                               int i;                                                                         static unsigned afl,afh;                                                         * Interrupt routine every 8 samples *                                          * Calculate New Angles *                                                       * For the two frequencies, for 8 samples *                                   for ( i = 1 ; i < 8 ; i++)                                                      afl + = DFL ;                                                                  afh + = DFH ;                                                                   * get from sin table using 9 most significant bits *                           * u.sub.-- law compress the combined signal and send to fifo *                u.sub.-- signal-i-= ucompress( A1* sint-(afl > > 7 ) & OxO1ff-                      + sint-(afh > > 7 ) * OxO1ff- ) ;                                        * sint-512- is the SIN table with 512 entries. *                               return();                                                                      after 40 ms stop power by DTMF.sub.-- OFF. program no energy .                 DTMF.sub.-- OFF()                                                              * program transmit attenuator for no output   *                                * disable DTMF.sub.-- ON interrupts             *                              * init 40 ms. timer     *                                                      return();                                                                       DTMF DETECTION SPECIFICATIONS                                                        accept/reject frequency range is defined as:                              Frequency deviation accept : 1.5% ± 2 Hz.                                   Frequency deviation reject : 3.5%                                            Sensitivity -31 dbm                                                            Signal/Noise 12 dB                                                             Maximal difference between the two tones (twist) : 10 dB                        (The CEPT requirement is for no more than 6 dB, but this                       requirement is for post office exchange node. For end to                       and a higher twist is needed.)                                                ______________________________________                                    

The DTMF detector uses a DFT detector uses a DFT algorithm that calculates the energy at 18 different frequencies, 10 reject area filters and 8 accept frequencies.

The DFT algorithm implementation is more efficient than FFT implementation. Since the frequencies allocation is not on a power of two, the space between frequencies is geometric and constant. In the IIR implementation, any frequency can be calculated exactly. There is no need to select N in such a way that all frequencies will be close to k/N|k integer. In the IIR design, k can be a real number.

    ______________________________________                                         accept          reject   i                                                     ______________________________________                                                          662 Hz.  1                                                     697 Hz.                  2                                                                     732 Hz.  3                                                     770 Hz.                  4                                                                     808 Hz.  5                                                     852 Hz.                  6                                                                     895 Hz.  7                                                     941 Hz.                  8                                                                     988 Hz.  9                                                                    1149 Hz. 10                                                    1209 Hz.                 11                                                                    1269 Hz. 12                                                    1336 Hz.                 13                                                                    1409 Hz. 14                                                    1477 Hz.                 15                                                                    1551 Hz. 16                                                    1633 Hz.                 17                                                                    1715 Hz. 18                                                    ______________________________________                                    

DETECT₋₋ DTMF algorithm:

Every N samples:

Calculate the DFT of the 18 frequencies (use the filter parameters from DTMF filter parameters table)

ACCEPT criterion:

    ______________________________________                                         1)  Find the MAX of E-i- ,(E-i.sub.-- max-) | i = 1 to 9                  ( save E-i.sub.-- max- s S = S.sub.-- low , and save i.sub.-- max -            its index)                                                                 2)  If i max is an accepted frequency then check the S/N >                         8 dB criterion.                                                                N = (sum of E-i-) -E-i.sub.-- max- -E-i.sub.-- max-1-.sub.-- E-i.sub.-         - max+1-                                                                       S/N criterion: E-i.sub.-- max-*KS > N + Epsilon ( Epsilon = 10)                ( KS =1/16)                                                                ______________________________________                                    

KS is the sensitivity threshold.

Epsilon is the dynamic range parameter.

    ______________________________________                                         3)    Repeat the 1), 2) for the high group : i = 10 to 18                      (only if criteria 1,2 did succeed!)                                            4)    If abs ( S.sub.-- low - S.sub.-- high ) < (S.sub.-- low + S.sub.--             high) * KD                                                                     then we succeeded in detecting a dialed digit: return it,                      according to the two indexes.                                            ______________________________________                                    

KD=0.818181 for 10 db max difference between S₋₋ low to S₋₋ high

In order to change the maximum allowable difference D dB,

KD can be changed according to the following formula:

    ______________________________________                                         KD = ( 10**(D/10) -1/( 10**(D/10) +1)                                          5)  Energy test                                                                P=sum of -(x.sub.-- n*A)*(x.sub.-- n*A)- |n=1,N ; total scale         down power                                                                     ( S.sub.-- low + S.sub.-- high)*Kp > P                                         Kp = 2                                                                         ______________________________________                                    

6) Eliminate Voice detection with duration less than 20 ms:

Accept a change in the character only if this character is equal to the previous measurement, (at least two consecutive measurements):

if (Ch(t)==Ch(t-1)) Result₋₋ char=Ch(t);

Ch(t)=Ch(t-1);

Ch(t) can be Idle character.

The following algorithm performs Filter Bank very efficiently. Each filter is an IIR filter with one Complex pole. The algorithm can be used for DTMF deletion and for any programmable tone detector.

DFT ALGORITHM

Spectrum analysis at a single point in the z Plane is described in -1- Rabiner & Gold. The technics can be implemented very efficiently on the NS32FX16 using one complex coefficient per frequency and scale factor for gain adjustment, preventing overflow.

The following block diagram describes the operation of one filter. The same operation is performed on Bank of filters in a complex vector operation. ##STR94## Y: input sample S: scale down factor

The Scale down factor are written in the memory at location Ds-i-.

This factor controls the total Gain of each filter.

At init all C-i-<=0.

For every sample use the following Two WANDA operations:

VCMUL: C-i-: =C-i-*D-i-

VCMAD: C-i-: =C-i-+Y*D-i-

1) Dw-i- includes 18 complex frequency coefficients W-i-

Pole calculation

f=center frequency

Fs=sampling frequency

The phase change is: Th=2*pi*f/Fs

The value of the complex Pole of the filter is:

    Pole=r* exp (-j*Th)

r=is the magnitude of the pole.

if r=1 we have a DFT transform with a minimum bandwith of Fs/(2*N).

In order to increase the bandwith, we can reduce the magnitude of the pole.

BW=required band width.

The magnitude of the pole is: r=exp- -pi BW/Fs-

Scale Down Calculation:

In order to reduce the Gain of the filter and to prevent overflow, a Scale Down factor A is used. For a unity gain

A=2*(1-r) (A is the scale factor for unlimited N

This scale down factor prevent overflow.

If N is small, A can be larger

The minimal A is 1/N.)

Perform VCMUL for 18 points.

2) Ds-i- includes 18 real scale down numbers A. Perform VCMAd operation for 18 points.

After N samples, Perform Frequency and Energy calculation for the required frequencies:

    C-i-: =C-i-*C-i-conj

The DTMF filter parameter are provided in the following Table XI:

    ______________________________________                                         i   f-Hz-   Fs-Hz-  BW-Hz- PR    PIm   A    N                                  ______________________________________                                          1   662    9600    50     29256 13534 1064 192                                 2   697    9600    50     28939 14200 1064 192                                 3   732    9600    50     28606 14860 1064 192                                 4   770    9600    50     28228 15566 1064 192                                 5   808    9600    50     27832 16264 1064 192                                 6   852    9600    50     27352 17058 1064 192                                 7   895    9600    50     26861 17821 1064 192                                 8   941    9600    50     26312 18622 1064 192                                 9   988    9600    50     25727 19422 1064 192                                10  1149    9600    50     23542 22020 1064 192                                11  1209    9600    50     22659 22928 1064 192                                12  1269    9600    50     21741 23800 1064 192                                13  1336    9600    50     20677 24730 1064 192                                14  1409    9600    50     19473 25689 1064 192                                15  1477    9600    50     18310 26530 1064 192                                16  1551    9600    50     17004 27385 1064 192                                17  1633    9600    50     15511 28258 1064 192                                18  1715    9600    50     13973 29049 1064 192                                ______________________________________                                          PR is the Real part of the pole                                                PIm is the Imaginary part of the pole                                          AA is the Scale Down factor                                              

To get an efficient filter bank implementation the following VCPOLY vector instruction was implemented.

The New instruction VCPOLY performs all the DTF algorithm in a single instruction on the AM-160

    ______________________________________                                         VCPOLY (X,Y,Z)                                                                     real X                                                                         complex Y,Z                                                                    real temp                                                                      temp = R?(z-0-) * x-0-) ;                                                      Z-1- = Z-1-+temp*temp;                                                         for (n=2; n<LENG; n++)                                                            z-n- = (complex) (z-n * y-n- + temp)                                    ______________________________________                                    

L. Lattice Filter/Inverse Lattice Filter

The DSPM 12 utilizes a lattice filter and inverse lattice filter using the "vector-lattice-propagate" and "vector-multiply-and-add" pair of vector DSP instructions.

Lattice filter is a scheme for performing a Finite Impulse Filter (FIR). It is used mainly for adaptive filters, where the coefficients can vary from one filter iteration to the next.

A lattice filter is used to filter a digitally sampled input signal: s(t), to obtain an output signal: d(t). A lattice filter block diagram is shown in FIG. 34. It consists of L stages, where each stage is specified by two values: d and u, with stage-number as a subscript. Both and d and u values of all of the stages are digitally sampled functions of time.

In an inverse lattice filer the problem is to recover the original input signal s(t), given the filtered output signal d(t). For this purpose it is also necessary to recover the u values in all stages for each time-step. An inverse lattice filter block diagram is shown in FIG. 35.

In a lattice filter, the input signal s(t) is fed directly into both d and u values of stage-0, and then propagates according to the block diagram of FIG. 34. The blocks labeled "T" indicate delay of one time-step. The signal flowgraph of a lattice filter is shown in FIG. 36, and corresponds to the following equations:

    ______________________________________                                         1.   d.sub.0 (t) = u.sub.0 (t) = s(t)                                          2.   d.sub.k (t) = d.sub.k-1 (t) + b.sub.k * u.sub.k-1 (t-1)                                             (FOR k = 1 to L)                                     3.   u.sub.k (t) = a.sub.k * d.sub.k-1 (t) + u.sub.k-1 (t-1)                                             (FOR k = 1 to L)                                     ______________________________________                                    

The input signal d(t) is fed into the d value of the last stage (stage-L), and then propagates according to the block diagram of FIG. 35. The signal first propagates along the d values from this last stage back to the first stage, using previous time-steps u values of the various stages. The output is taken from stage-0 and is also used to propagate back in order to update the new values of u for the current time-step. The signal flowgraph of an inverse lauice filter is shown in FIG. 37, and corresponds to the following equations:

    ______________________________________                                         1.  d.sub.k-1 (t) = u.sub.k (t) - b.sub.k * u.sub.k-1 (t-1)                                            (FOR k = L downto 1)                                   2.  s(t) = u.sub.0 (t) = d.sub.0 (t)                                           3.  u.sub.k (t) = a.sub.k * d.sub.k-1 (t) + u.sub.k-1 (t-1)                                            (FOR k = 1 to L)                                       ______________________________________                                    

The usual method for implementing a lattice filter and inverse lattice filter in software is to use a standard SDP processor and write code that corresponds directly to the above equations. This can be achieved by iterating for each stage and performing the steps indicated in that order.

The standard way of writing lattice filter and inverse lattice filter code as an iteration on filter stages is not appropriate for a vector processor which is capable of executing vector instructions with added efficiency due to pipelining.

The present invention implements the operations needed for a lattice filter and inverse lattice filter using such a vector processing architecture and does so using a minimal number of special-purpose vector instructions. In fact, it will be shown that both the lattice filter and inverse lattice filter can be performed using two vector-instructions: VCLATP and VCMAD. The VCMAD is a general-purpose vector-instruction with many other uses in DSP applications, so the cost of this scheme is actually an introduction of a single vector-instruction specifically for this purpose.

For the following description refer also to the above-provided description of the DSPM architecture.

The following data-structures are used in the implementation of both lattice filter and inverse lattice filter. They reside in the DSPM on-chip RAM. The syntax used is a pseudo-assembly language corresponding to the architecture specifications of the DSPM. (L is a constant specifying the number of stages).

    __________________________________________________________________________     FILTER.sub.-- IN:                                                                         .COMPLEX                                                                              1 ;Input signal for lattice                                  FILTER.sub.-- OUT:                                                                        .COMPLEX                                                                              1 ;Output signal from lattice                                INV.sub.-- FILTER.sub.-- IN:                                                              .COMPLEX                                                                              1 ;Input signal for inverse letter                           INV.sub.-- FILTER.sub.-- OUT:                                                             .COMPLEX                                                                              1 ;Output signal for inverse lattice                         ;Parameters for vector instructions                                            LATT.sub.-- D:                                                                          .PARAMS                                                                              LENG=L+1, COJ=0, CLR=0, SUB=0                                   LATT.sub.-- D:                                                                          .PARAMS                                                                              LENG=L,    COJ=0, CLR=0, SUB=0                                  INV.sub.-- LATT.sub.-- D:                                                               .PARAMS                                                                              LENG=L+1, COJ=0, CLR=0, SUB=1                                   INV.sub.-- LATT.sub.-- p:                                                               .PARAMS                                                                              LENG=L,    COJ=0, CLR=0, SUB=0                                  ;Vector pointers                                                               ;DBUF = "d" values vector, length=L+1 (0..L), no wrap-around                   ;UBUF = "u" values vector, length+L (0..L), using wrap-around = L              ;ABUF = vector of "a" coefficients, length=L (0..L), no wrap-around            ;BBUF = vector of "b" coefficients, length=L (0..L-1), no wrap-around          DBUF.sub.-- PTR:                                                                      .VECTOR.sub.-- ADDR                                                                      ADDR=DBUF.sub.-- 0, INCR=1, WRAP=2*L                          UBUF.sub.-- PTR:                                                                      .VECTOR.sub.-- ADDR                                                                      ADDR=UBUF.sub.-- 0, INCR=1, WRAP=L                            ABUF.sub.-- PTR:                                                                      .VECTOR.sub.-- ADDR                                                                      ADDR=ABUF.sub.-- 0, INCR=1, WRAP=2*L                          BBUF.sub.-- PTR:                                                                      .VECTOR.sub.-- ADDR                                                                      ADDR=BBUF.sub.-- 0, INCR=1, WRAP=2*L                          ;Vector buffers, labels refer to zero'th entry                                 DBUF.sub.-- 0:                                                                            .COMPLEX L                                                                              ; Reserve L complex entries                                DBUF.sub.-- L:                                                                            .COMPLEX 1                                                                              ; Plus one more, labeled DBUF.sub.-- L                     UBUF.sub.-- 0:                                                                            .COMPLEX L                                                          ABUF.sub.-- 0;                                                                            .COMPLEX L                                                          BBUF.sub.-- 0                                                                             .COMPLEX L                                                          ;Lattice filter implementation:                                                LATT:                                                                              LX     FILTER.sub.-- IN                                                                        ; Read input signal                                            SX     DBUF.sub.-- 0                                                                           ; and store as d.sub.-- 0                                      SX     UBUF.sub.-- 0                                                                           ; and as u.sub.-- 0                                            LX     UBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                         LY     BBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                         LZ     DBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                         LPARAM LATT.sub.-- D                                                           VCLATP          ; Compute all d values                                         LX     DBUF.sub.-- L                                                           SX     FILTER.sub.-- OUT                                                                       ; and store last one as output signal                          LX     UBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                         LY     ABUF.sub.-- PTR                                                         LZ     UBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                         LPARAM LATT.sub.-- U                                                           VCLATP          ; Update all u values                                          DECX            ; and adjust pointer                                           SX     UBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                                         ; of UBUF for the next time-step                               HALT                                                                       ;Inverse lattice filter implementation:                                        ;Note: here the d and u values are stored backwards in the DBUF and            UBUF,                                                                          ;   with d.sub.-- 0 stored in DBUF-L- and d.sub.-- L in DBUF-0-.               Similarly for u.                                                               INV.sub.-- LATT;                                                               LX         INV.sub.-- FILTER.sub.-- IN                                                               ; Read input signal (filtered)                           SX         DBUF.sub.-- 0                                                                             ; and store as d.sub.-- L                                LX         UBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                     LY         BBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                     LZ         DBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                     LPARAM     INV.sub.-- LATT.sub.-- D                                            VCLATP                ; Compute all d values                                   LX         DBUF.sub.-- L                                                       SX         INV.sub.-- FILTER.sub.-- OUT                                                              ; and store last one as output signal                    SX         UBUF.sub.-- L                                                                             ; and also as u.sub.-- 0 value                           LX         UBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                     LY         ABUF.sub.-- PTR                                                     LZ         UBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                     LPARAM     INV.sub.-- LATT.sub.-- U                                            VCMAD                 ; Update all u values                                    INCX                  ; and adjust pointer                                     SX         UBUF.sub.-- PTR                                                     HALT                                                                           __________________________________________________________________________

If the "a" and "b" coefficients are complex-conjugates, it is not necessary to reserve two separate vector buffers for them. It is possible to use a single buffer for these values and specify a COJ=1 modifier in the PARAM register when operation with their conjugates is needed.

The above description is suitable for a complex-valued filter. In the case of a real-valued filter, the same scheme is used with the VCLATP and VCMAD operations replaced by VRLATP and VRMAD, respectively. The corresponding changes in the date-structure specifications are straight-forward to one skilled in the art.

It should be understood that various alternatives to the embodiment of the invention described herein may be employed in practicing the invention. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that methods and apparatus within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An integrated circuit data processing system comprising:an internal bus for transferring data and instructions within the data processing system; a general purpose input/output unit, connected to the internal bus and disposed for connection to an external bus, that transfers instructions and data between the data processing system and a system memory that is external to the data processing system such that instructions and data stored in the system memory are transferred to the internal bus via the general purpose input/output unit; a general purpose central processing unit (CPU) connected to the internal bus for retrieving general purpose instructions, the general purpose CPU including an execution unit for executing general purpose instructions to process data retrieved by the general purpose CPU from the internal bus and to perform various CPU operations; and an internal memory element, connected to the internal bus, that stores test functions for utilization by the data processing system for testing hardware functions of the data processing system; and wherein the test functions are retrieved from the system memory via the general purpose input/output unit and the internal bus for storage in the internal memory element by performance by the CPU of a test program retrieve operation through execution of a defined sequence of general purpose instructions.
 2. A data processing system as in claim 1, and further comprising an internal read only memory (ROM) connected to the general purpose CPU, wherein the internal ROM stores the defined sequence of general purpose instructions for retrieving the test functions from the system memory for storage in the internal memory element.
 3. A data processing system as in claim 1 wherein the internal memory element is a static random access memory (SRAM).
 4. An integrated circuit data processing system comprising:an internal bus for transferring data and instructions within the data processing system; a bus interface unit, connected to the internal bus and disposed for connection to an external bus, that transfers instructions and data between the data processing system and a system memory that is external to the data processing system such that instructions and data stored in the system memory are transferred to the internal bus via the bus interface unit; a general purpose central processing unit (CPU) connected to the internal bus for retrieving general purpose instructions, the general purpose CPU including an execution unit for executing general purpose instructions to process data retrieved by the general purpose CPU from the internal bus and to perform various CPU operations; and an internal memory element, connected to the internal bus, that stores test functions for utilization by the data processing system for testing hardware functions of the data processing system; and wherein the test functions are retrieved from the system memory via the bus interface unit and the internal bus for storage in the internal memory element by performance by the CPU of a test program retrieval operation through execution of a defined sequence of general purpose instructions; and wherein the test functions are retrieved from the system memory in multi-bit segments.
 5. A data processing system as in claim 4, and further comprising a digital signal processor (DSP) module connected to the internal bus, the DSP module including means for processing an externally-provided digital signal received by the DSP module by executing DSP command-list instructions.
 6. A data process system as in claim 5, and wherein execution of the DSP command-list instructions by the DSP module is independent of and in parallel with execution of general purpose instructions by the general purpose CPU.
 7. A data process system as in claim 5, and further comprising an internal read only memory (ROM) connected to the general purpose CPU, wherein the internal ROM stores the defined sequence of general purpose instructions for retrieving the test functions from the system memory for storage in the internal memory element.
 8. A data processing system as in claim 7 wherein the internal memory element is a static random access memory (SRAM).
 9. A method of storing test functions in an internal memory element of an integrated circuit data processing system, the data processing system including an internal bus for transferring data and instructions within the data processing system, a general purpose input/output unit, connected to the internal bus and disposed for connection to an external bus, that transfers instructions and data between the data processing and a system memory that is external to the data processing system such that instructions and data stored in the system memory are transferred to the internal bus via the general purpose input/output unit, and a general purpose central processing unit (CPU) connected to the internal bus for retrieving general purpose instructions, the general purpose CPU including an execution unit for executing general purpose instructions to process data retrieved by the general purpose CPU from the internal bus and to perform various CPU operations, the general purpose CPU-implemented method comprising:invoking a test function retrieval operation by the general purpose CPU, the test function retrieval operation comprising a defined sequence of general purpose instructions; executing a first general purpose instruction in the defined sequence to identify a number of bytes included in the test function; executing a second general purpose instruction in the defined sequence to identify a storage location in the internal memory element that will serve as a specified initial storage location for the number of bytes included in the test function; executing a third general purpose instruction in the defined sequence to initiate loading of the number of bytes included in the test function from the system memory to the internal memory element beginning with the specified initial storage location. 